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COPYRIGHT DEPOSni 



PROFITABLE 
DAIRYING 



BY 

Kirk Lester Hatch, B. S. in Agriculture, 
professor, agricultural education, 

university of WISCONSIN 

Gustav Henry Benkendorf, B. S. in Agriculture, 
]\ 

assistant PROFESSOR, DAIRY HUSBANDRY, 
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN 



CHICAGO NEW YORK 

EOW, PETERSON AND COMPANY 






Copyright, 1918 
ROW, PETERSON 
AND COMPANY 



JUN 10 1918 

©CLA497682 






PREFACE 

There is no branch of agriculture which yields 
so handsome and so satisfactory returns to the 
farmer as the dairy industry, if properly pur- 
sued. To be sure, there are other branches 
which give larger returns, but these large profits 
are more than offset by the loss to the soil and 
the uncertainty of a crop each year. Tobacco 
may be grown successfully for a number of years 
on the same piece of ground, but the soil must be 
diligently worked and extensively fertilized. In 
the end the overtaxed soil refuses to respond and 
finally lies exhausted. So it is with grain farm- 
ing. One cannot draw continually on a bank 
account without renewing his deposits there. 
Neither can the farmer draw continually from 
the storehouse of plant food which he possesses; 
that is, from the soil of his farm, without put- 
ting back the same amount of fertility that he 
takes off with his crop, unless he wishes to wear 
out and ruin his farm. 

Now, in dairy farming the larger portion of 
all that is raised on the farm is fed there and 
ultimately finds its way back to the soil in the 

3 



4 PREFACE 

form of barnyard manure. The butter and cheese 
which are sold from the farm contain so small a 
portion of soil matter that this loss is scarcely 
perceptible. This is the chief reason why dairy 
farming is proving so profitable and is coming 
so rapidly into popular favor. 

Recent investigation has shown that the dairy 
cow will convert grain and roughage into human 
food more economically than can be obtained 
from any other animal. Under favorable condi- 
tions 30 per cent of the digestible nutrients 
fed to a dairy cow are recovered again in the 
milk, while only about 5 per cent of them are 
retained in the body of a steer. In other words, 
a dairy cow makes use of six times as much of 
the raw material fed as does the steer. This is 
a most surprising revelation. 

But this is not all. Dairy farming promotes 
crop rotation and encourages the production of 
clover, alfalfa, and other leguminous crops which, 
if fed on the farm, do not wear out the soil, 
but may positively add to its fertility. The pro- 
gressive dairy farmer not only finds himself 
placed, through liis industry, in a position of 
competence and ease, but under wise manage- 
ment he finds the soil of his farm growing richer 
and more productive. All of these somewhat 
surprising assertions admit of absolute proof and 



PREFACE 5 

will be fully discussed in the chapters which 
follow. 

But the one who reads this must not think 
it an overdrawn case for dairy farming on the 
one hand, nor imagine on the other hand that all 
he has to do is get a few cows and that they 
will take care of him for the rest of his days. 
Both views are equally erroneous. No man 
can permanently succeed in any undertaking 
without putting intelligent thought and energy 
into his work. Neither can the dairy farmer. 

The ability to secure profits from dairying lies 
in a thorough knowledge of its fundamental 
principles. This book endeavors to set these 
principles forth in a simple and practical way. 
The authors have avoided the use of scientific 
terms so far as it is possible for them to do so, 
and have tried to use language and illustrations 
easily within the grasp of those not trained for 
scientific work. "Wherever it has been necessary 
to resort to unusual terms, these terms are fully 
explained in ordinary every-day language. It is 
hoped that this little book will be of real service 
to the dairy farmer by assisting him in improv- 
ing his methods and increasing his profits. 

AVe desire to thank the many breeders, supply 
houses, and manufacturing concerns, for their 
generosity in furnishing photographs and cuts., 
We especially desire to thank the Wisconsin 



g PREFACE 

Experiment Station, Madison, Wisconsin, and 
the Indiana Experiment Station, La Fayette, 
Indiana, for illustrations from bulletins pub- 
lished. 

The Authoks. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I Development of the Industry.... 9 

II Composition of Milk 15 

III Milk Secretion 24 

IV The Babcqck Test 31 

V The Dairy Cow 42 

VI Testing the Farm Herd 61 

VII Cream Separation 72 

VIII The Farm Separator 78 

IX Value of Skim-Milk 86 

X Care of Utensils 94 

XI Care of Milk and Cream 100 

XII Disposing of Milk and Cream .... 109 

XIII Butter Making and Cheese Making 118 

XIV The Barn 129 

XV The Silo 136 

XVI Feed for the Cow 141 

XVII Care of the Cow . 155 

XVIII Tuberculosis 162 

XIX Eelation of Dairying to the Soil 171 



CHAPTER I 
DEVELOPMENT OF THE INDUSTRY 

Dairying as an agricultural industry is very 
old, but as a ^ ^ commercial " industry placed on a 
firm and sure scientific basis, it is very new — 
just about a quarter of a century of age. Its 
success is largely due to the invention of two 
machines which have completely revolutionized 
the Avhole industry. These two machines are 
the Babcock tester and the centrifugal separator. 

The centrifugal separator. Previous to 1879 
the only method in common use for the separa- 
tion of fat from the milk was by setting the milk 
either in pans or cans and allowing the cream to 
rise naturally; but in that year two machines 
were invented, one in Denmark and the other 
in Sweden, which made use of the principle of 
centrifugal force for this separation, and were so 
constructed that the process was continuous. 
Since that time other inventors have placed 
modifications of these machines on the market, 
until today tlierQ are a dozen or more styles of 

9 



10 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

thoroughly reliable centrifugal separators in 
every-day use, but the principle employed by all 
of them is the same. 

The influence of the separator. The centri- 
fugal method of separation effected so large a 
saving of butter fat to the farmers that cream- 
eries sprang up rapidly, particularly in the 
north central states, only to be defeated of their 
mission by dissatisfaction and fraud, because 
there was no quick and satisfactory method for 
determining the richness of the milk delivered 
by the patrons, nor any practical way by which 
a factoryman could determine the losses in skim- 
milk, etc. In these early creameries and cheese 
factories an unprincipled patron could water 
his milk in order to get the lion's share of the 
profits, as it was then the custom to pay for 
milk by the hundred weight. Of course such 
fraud was certain to cause dissatisfaction, besides 
being manifestly unjust. 

Milk formerly sold by the pound. Another 
thing, well known even in those days, is that 
all cows are not equally good fat producers; 
that is, all cows do not give milk equally rich 
in fat, and the ^'pooling system,'' as it is called, 
where all farmers are paid the same price per 
hundred pounds of milk without regard to its 
fat content, is plainly not equitable. 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE INDUSTRY H 

The butter fat test. These two facts, viz.: 
that a patron could adulterate his milk and 
thereby increase his profits, and that a patron, 
although not adulterating his milk, could deliver 
milk from herds testing low in fat and receive 
the same amount of money per hundred pounds 
of milk at the factory, led Dr. Babcock of Wis- 
consin in an effort to solve the vexed problem 
of providing the dairy world with a quick and 
easy method for determining the fat content of 
milk. His labors resulted in the invention of 
what is now known as the Babcock test in the 
year 1890, which date marks the beginning of 
active progress in the dairy industry. This 
invention is such a simple and practical method 
for the determination of fat in milk, cream, 
butter and cheese that it has never been im- 
proved upon, and it is doubtful if a better 
method will ever be discovered. Dr. Babcock 's 
name is known the world over, and it is certain 
that no other man has ever contributed such a 
rich legacy to agriculture as has Dr. Babcock 
by the invention of this test. He did not patent 
it, but gave it free to a great agricultural pop- 
ulation, where it found immediate adoption and 
widespread use. 

Rapid development since 1890. As an illus- 
tration of the rapid development of the dairy 



12 



PROFITABLE DAIRYING 



industry, it is only necessary to call attention 
to the census reports of the United States, which 
show but five creameries and cheese factories 
within its domains in the year 1860. This num- 
ber increased very slowly for twenty or thirty 

years, but very rapidly 
after 1890, until we now 
have, according to the 
census of 1910, the lat- 
est data available, 6,235 
creameries and 3,846 
cheese factories scattered 
throughout the United 
States. 

It may be argued from 
this that the dairy indus- 
try will soon be overdone. 
The following table will 
be of interest to those 
studying this question: 




Fig-. 1. Dr. Babcock oper- 
ating the original Babcock 
tester. 



Population of the U. S. (Census 1890)— 62,622,256. 
Population of the U. S. (Census 1910)— 91,972,266. 

Increase in Population 46.7% 

Production of Butter in the U. S. (Census 

1890) 1,205,508,384 lbs. 

Production of Butter in the U. S. (Census 

1910) 1,619,415,263 " 

Increase in Amount of Butter Produced. . . 34.3% 

Production of Cheese in the U. S. (Census 

1890) 256,761,888 lbs. 

Production of Cheese in the U. S. (Census 

1910) 320,532,181 " 

Increase in Amount of Cheese Produced. . . 24.8% 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE INDUSTRY 13 

Comparing the increase in the butter and 
cheese produced with the increase in popula- 
tion, it is seen that the population is increasing 
much more rapidly than is the supply of dairy 
products. Dairymen need not be alarmed, there- 
fore, about an over-production. 

Milk an economical food. Notwithstanding the 
high prices paid for milk, butter and cheese, 
milk and its products are among the very cheap- 
est, most wholesome and most nutritious articles 
of human food. People are rapidly learning the 
economy of using dairy products. It has been 
estimated that one-sixth of the food consumed by 
the people of the United States is some form of 
dairy product. There are more digestible nutri- 
ents contained in milk than can be obtained 
from the same amount of money expended for 
meat, fish, or fruit at ordinary retail market 
prices. The cow is the most economical food 
producer extant. This fact will always oper- 
ate to keep up the prices of dairy products. 
Whatever may have been the ups and downs of 
the past, certain it is that the future of the 
dairy industry looks exceedingly bright. 

The following • table is based on a report 
recently published by the State Food Commis- 
sion of Illinois. Each food in this list contains 
approximately the same amount of nutritive 
material as one quart of milk. 



14 



PROFITABLE DAIRYING 



Milk, Whole. 

Cheese, Full Cream, 
Condensed Milk, 

Sweetened 

Eggs 

Beef, Round 

Codfish, Salt 

Oysters 

Tomatoes 

Bananas 

Apples 



Weight 



Pounds 1 Ounces 



2.36 
5.6 

7.37 
.62 

11.85 
.48 

14.21 



8.6 
7.5 



Approxi- 
mate 
Weight 
Grams 



975 
160 

210 

470 

335 

920 

2,217 

3,175 

1,150 

1,575 



Cost per 

Pounds 

Cents 



22 

15 
35(doz.) 
20 

7 
15 

5 

6 

1.5 



Total 

Cost 

Cents 



8 
7.7 

6.9 
22.3 
14.8 
14.3 
72.6 
35 
15 

5.2 



EXERCISES 

1. What is meant by the statement : ' ' The cow is the 
most economical food producer ? ' ' 

2. If the above be true, will consumption of dairy 
products probably increase or decline ? 

3. "Will consumption of meat in the United States 
increase or decline as population increases? 

4. How does America compare with Europe in the 
consumption of meat ? 

5. Is there any other animal that may possibly be 
used to produce dairy products more cheaply than the 
cow? 



CHAPTER II 
COMPOSITION OF MILK 

Appearance. Milk as secreted is opaque and 
white in appearance. Normally it usually has a 
slightly yellowish tinge, due to the fat globules 
it contains. The white color is due to suspended 
particles interfering with the passage of the 
light. Skim-milk, or milk from which the fat 
has been removed, has a bluish tinge. Milk has 
a sweet taste when first drawn owing to the pres- 
ence of the milk sugar. 

Specific gravity. Milk is heavier than water, 
having a specific gravity of about 1.029 to 1.033. 
This means that if a vessel held exactly 1.000 
pound of water, this same vessel would hold from 
1.029 to 1.033 pounds of milk. 

The two parts of milk. Milk may be consid- 
ered as consisting of two parts, viz.: the fat and 
the serum. One hundred pounds of milk ordi- 
narily contains about 3.7 pounds of fat. The 
serum in this amount, consisting of all the con- 
stituents of the milk except the fat, would 
therefore weigh 96.3 pounds. 

There is no chemical union between the fat and 

15 



IQ PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

the serum, but the fat floats in the serum in the 
form of very small particles varying in size and 
number in different kinds of milk. The number 
of fat globules in a cubic millimeter, which is 
about the size of a pinhead, is from one to five 
million, depending, of course, upon the kind of 
milk. Ordinary milk contains about two million 
fat globules to the drop, and it has been esti- 
mated that it would take a man ten years to 
count the number in a cubic centimeter of milk, 
counting at the rate of one hundred per minute, 
for ten hours per day. 

Fat globules. When first drawn the fat glob- 
ules are uniformly distributed, but after standing 
a few minutes these globules gather into groups 
of ten to one hundred, although we find through- 
out the milk small, isolated, individual globules. 
Their average diameter is about one ten-thou- 
sandth of an inch. Some are so small, however, 
that they appear under a microscope as very tiny 
specks, too small to be measured. 

Size and number of fat globules. The number 
of fat globules increases as the period of lacta- 
tion advances, there being from two to three 
times as many in the same volume at the end as 
at the beginning. The size, however, greatly 
diminishes. The fat globules in milk of different 
breeds vary in size, the largest ones being found 
in Jersey milk. The Ayrshire and Holstein- 



COMPOSITION OF MILK 17 

Friesian cows have the smallest; the Shorthorn 
ranking between the Jersey and Ayrshire, 
although certain strains of Shorthorn cows pro- 
duce milk with very large fat globules. It may 
be interesting to note that the largest fat globules 
on record were found in Shorthorn milk. 

Milk serum. The serum is composed of water 
and solids (usually designated as solids not fat). 
These embrace such solids as casein, albumen, 
sugar and ash, varying in amounts with different 
individual cows. With the fat these comprise 
what are known as total solids. Below is a table 
showing the average composition of milk: 

Water 87.4 per cent. 

Fat 3.7 per cent. 

Albumen .5 per cent. 

Casein 2,7 per cent. 

Milk Sugar 5.0 per cent. 

Ash 7 per cent. 

100.0 

Fat varies with the breeds. The most variable 
of these constituents is the fat; the casein also 
varies but not quite so much as the fat; albumen, 
sugar, and ash being quite constant. The fat con- 
tent varies a great deal according to the breed. 
It is well known that the milks of Jersey and 
Guernsey breeds are rich in fat. To show these 
breed variations we append the following table 
compiled by the agricultural experiment stations 
of America: 



18 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

Solids Fat 

Jersey 14.70 per cent, 5.35 per cent. 

Guernsey 14.71 per cent. 5.16 per cent. 

Shorthorn 13.38 per cent. 4.5 per cent. 

Ayrshire 12.61 per cent. 3.66 per cent. 

Holstein-Friesian ...11.85 per cent. 3.42 per cent. 

It must not be inferred from this that all Jer- 
sey cows produce milk of the same richness given 
in this table. As a matter of fact there is a great 
difference between the individuals of each breed. 
Certain Holstein-Friesian cows have been known 
to produce milk testing as low as 2.8 per cent fat, 
and even lower, while other individual Holstein- 
Friesian cows may produce milk containing 4.0 
per cent fat and over. This table shows the 
average test from a large number of cows. 




Fig. 2. Finderne Mutual Fayne. 
A fine type of Holstein breed which produces a large quantity 
of milk of relatively low fat content. - 



COMPOSITION OF MILK 19 

Fat content increases as lactation advances. 

The per cent of fat in milk changes somewhat 
with the period of lactation. Professor Van 
Slyke of the Geneva Station, New York, gives a 
table showing a gradual increase as the period of 
lactation advances. It will be noticed that for 
the first five months the milk did not increase in 
richness, but remained practically the same; after 
that the fat of the milk gradually became richer 
as the period advanced. 

Month of Per Cent of 

Lactation Fat in Milk 

1 4.54 

2 4.33 

3 4.28 

4 4.39 

5 4.38 

6 4.53 

7 4.56 

8 4.66 

9 4.79 

10 5.00 

Influence of time of milking. The time be- 
tween milkings has a great influence on the fat 
content of the milk. It is quite generally known 
that morning milk is richer than evening milk. 
This is not always true, but in general we find 
that when a cow is milked three or four times 
a day she will produce richer milk than when 
she is milked twice only. As a rule the richer 
milk follows the shorter period between milkings. 
This is an important fact to bear in mind when 
the milk of a cow is tested for its fat content. 



20 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

Daily variations. Milk will vary a great deal 
in richness from day to day. The health of the 
animal also has an influence on the variation of 
the percentage of fat. Excitement may very ma- 
terially reduce the quantity of milk as well as 
the quality. It is therefore poor policy for a 
dairyman to abuse his cows by beating them or 
by allowing them to be chased by dogs. 

Composition of colostrum. The first milk after 
a cow freshens is termed colostrum milk. Instead 
of having a solid not fat content of 9.0 per cent, 
it seldom falls below 18.0 per cent. The great 
increase in the solids not fat is due to the increase 
in those substances which are very essential as 
a food for the calf during the first three or four 
days after birth, viz.: casein and albumen. The 
following table gives the composition of this milk, 
showing that the fat content is quite normal but 
that the solids not fat differ greatly from the 
solids not fat in normal milk: 

Water 74.6 per cent. 

Fat 3.6 per cent. 

Casein 4.0 per cent. 

Albumen 13. G per cent. 

Milk Sugar 2.6 per cent. 

Ash 1.6 per cent. 

100.0 

However, these solids not fat constituents in 
the colostrum milk decrease very rapidly, so that 
the milk becomes **normaP' at the seventh or 



COMPOSITION OF MILK 21 

eighth milking. This colostrum milk, although it 
is not in any way poisonous as human food, is 
very undesirable for purposes other than food 
for the calf, and should not be delivered to 
a creamery or cheese factory until it is fit for 
human use. 

Casein. The casein in milk varies with dif- 
ferent animals from 1.8 per cent to 3.0 per cent, 
but in the individual it is quite constant. This 
casein, with the albumen, comprises what is 
known as proteids of milk. These proteids are 
very valuable as food and furnish the muscle 
producing elements so essential. The casein and 
the fat constitute what are known as the cheese 
solids of milk. These two components determine 
the value of the milk for cheese production. 

Milk sugar. The sugar in the milk is an impor- 
tant constituent, but should not be confused with 
commercial cane sugar. Milk sugar is only about 
one-fourth to one-fifth as sweet as ordinary cane 
sugar. It is manufactured from the whey at a 
few cheese factories in this country, located 
where large quantities of whey are available, 
but has very little commercial value, being used 
only in the preparation of modified milk. 

Kind treatment necessary. A great deal has 
been written in regard to the quality of milk as 
affected by varying conditions, such as slow and 
fast milking, sudden changes in the feed, and the 



22 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

nervous condition of the cow. A good dairy- 
man will always treat his cows kindly, will not 
be boisterous while handling them, or will not 
excite them in any other way, will feed them 
regularly and provide shelter for them. He 
will remember that besides being one of his best 
friends, the cow represents so much capital 
invested, and that abusing her will very mate- 
rially affect the dividends that she will be able 
to pay him. 

EXERCISES 

/' 

1. How many pounds of milk solids in a hundred 
pounds of milk? How much water? 

2. Which breed probably produces the greatest 
amount of solids per hundred pounds of milk? 

3. How many pounds of solid food are produced by 
a cow giving 25 pounds of milk daily? This is equal 
in dry matter to how many pounds of beefsteak ? 

4. About hoAV much solid food matter is produced by 
a cow giving 10,000 pounds of milk in a year? 

5. This is equal in total food matter to how much 
beef? How many yearling steers would be necessary 
to equal in beef the food products of such a cow? 

6. Do you weigh the milk of the home herd? 

7. Do you know how much food material each of 
your cows produces in a year ? 

LABORATORY PROBLEMS 
I. To Determine the Per Cent of Solids in Milk 

1. Carefully weigh 100 grams of whole milk into a 
weighed dish. 



COMPOSITION OF MUK 23 

2. Evaporate to dryness over a water bath or dry 
sand bath. 

3. When the contents are thoroughly dried, re weigh 
and subtract the original weight of the dish. The weight 
in grams will be the per cent of total solids in the milk. 

4. The loss in weight represents the water in the milk. 

Note: To make sure that the sample was thoroughly dried 
it should be again placed on the bath and heated for some time. 
If there is no further decrease in weight it may be taken for 
granted that the sample was dry. 

The solids of skim-milk, cream, and whey can be deter- 
mined in the same manner. 

LABORATORY PROBLEMS 

II. To Determine the Casein in Milk 

The casein in milk can be precipitated by very dilute 
acid. Albumen cannot be so precipitated. 

1. To 100 grams of carefully separated skim-milk 
add a few cubic centimeters of dilute acetic acid to cur- 
dle it. If it does not curdle readily add a few cubic 
centimeters more. The temperature of the skim-milk 
should be from 80 to 100 degrees F. Care should be 
taken not to add too much acid, as it Avill have a tendency 
to dissolve the curd. If acetic acid is not available, 
dilute sulfuric acid may be used, but it does not answer 
the purpose so well as acetic acid. A few drops of rennet 
may also be used. 

2. "When coagulated break up the coagulum and 
filter. The filtration process can be hastened by allow- 
ing the curd to settle to the bottom of the beaker after 
heating up the curd about 10 degrees. Dry the curd on 
a water bath after filtration. It will be nearly pure 
casein. 



CHAPTER III 
MILK SECRETION 

It is very essential that the dairyman should 
•understand the fundamental principles connected 
with his work. Not the least of these is the secre- 
tion of milk. In this brief work we can discuss 
only in a general way the various theories and 
opinions advanced in regard to the secretion of 
milk. 

Milk a secretion of the mammary glands. Milk 
may be briefly defined as a characteristic secre- 
tion of the mammary glands. Its primary func- 
tion, naturally, is for the nutrition of the young. 
As a food for young animals it cannot be excelled, 
for it contains the elements that are necessary for 
the building up of the tissues of the body, and 
it contains these elements in the proper propor- 
tion. The class of animals that suckle their 
young are termed ^^ mammals'' and are nearly 
all four-footed animals. To this order, however, 
belong some animals that live in the sea, such 
as porpoises and whales, which secrete a fluid 
very similar to that of the milk of land animals; 
with but a few exceptions, however, all mammals 
are land animals. We shall confine our discussion 

24 



MILK SECRETION 25 

of milk in this work to that produced by cows, 
although the milk of other animals, such as sheep 
and goats, is used as food in different parts of 
the world, especially in various parts of Euro- 
pean countries. 

Milk glands. The glands which secrete the 
milk are only two in number. There may be 
one lobe to each gland, or, as in the case of the 
dog or swine, several. In cows these lobes are 
termed '' quarters, '^ and there are two to each 
gland. These four quarters form what is termed 
the udder. 

The udder. These glands are separated from 
each other by a membrane. There is, therefore, 
no connection between the right and left sides 
of the udder. Each teat has practically its own 
system of cisterns, channels and cells. But there 
is more or less connection between the smaller 
ducts in the upper parts of the lobes on the same 
side. It is therefore possible to get more than 
half as much milk from one teat, if milked by 
itself, as can be obtained when both teats are 
milked at the same time. 

Milk cisterns. Just above each teat we find a 
small cavity from which there lead many small 
channels; these in turn lead to other but smaller 
cavities. All these cavities are termed ^'cis- 
terns. ' ' These small channels, with their cisterns, 
ramify the udder, becoming smaller and smaller. 



26 



PROFITABLE DAIRYING 



finally terminating in cells. These are the alveoli 
cells. These cells are about one-thirtieth of an 
inch in diameter and are arranged in groups of 
three to ^ve, having a common outlet. The inner 
walls of alveoli cells are made up of a layer of 
very minute epithelial cells; sometimes there are 
two or three layers of these cells. These small 
cells are filled with protoplasm, and when this 
protoplasm is discharged it is termed milk. 

The udder not a reser- 
voir. At one time it was 
the general belief that the 
udder was a reservoir, 
and it may be that many 
of us still have the impres- 
sion that this is the case. 
That this is not true is 
easily shown by the fact 
that the total capacity of 
all the reservoirs or cis- 
terns is not one-fourth the 
yield of the milk. 

The glands secrete milk 
all the time, but princi- 
pally at the time of milk- 
ing. We can compare this 
to the secreting of tears by the tear glands 
of the eye. These glands secrete tears all the 
time, but especially when an animal experiences 




Fig-. 3. Cross-section of a 
cow's udder, showing cavities 
and milk cisterns. 



MILK SECRETION 27 

great joy or grief. Similarly the nervous condi- 
tion of the cow at the time of milking will greatly 
influence the secretion of milk. 

As previously stated, there are many theories 
advanced as to the formation of milk. It was 
formerly claimed by some that milk is filtered 
out of the blood; the udder being well supplied 
with arteries and veins probably giving rise to 
this idea. 

We find, however, that there is very little if 
any milk sugar in the blood, while there is a 
great deal in milk. No casein is found in the 
blood. It is also a fact that the albumen in milk 
coagulates differently from the albumen of the 
blood. Further, it is known that the ash in milk 
is not the same as the ash in the blood. It is 
believed that somehow in the process of secretion 
certain parts of the blood enter the cavity of the 
alveoli cells and that there certain changes take 
place, which result in the secretion of milk. 
While the process of secretion is going on, new 
epithelial cells are constantly being formed, but 
just how is not known at the present time. 

Composition cannot be changed by feeding. 
The attention of the reader is now called to a 
very important point, viz.: that the tendency of 
the cell is always to produce milk of its own par- 
ticular composition. This tendency is very con- 
stant, and therefore the composition of milk can- 



28 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

not be permanently changed by any particular 
change of feed. It is well understood that the 
quantity of milk which a cow produces may be 
considerably increased, but the quality will re- 
main practically the same. To make this plain, 
we may use this illustration: A tree will always 
produce the same kind of fruit; by giving the 
tree good food it is possible to increase its yield, 
but a winesap tree will always produce winesap 
apples. So it is with the cow. It is the nature 
of the cells to secrete a particular grade of milk, 
and therefore no system of feeding will perma- 
nently increase or decrease its fat content. The 
idea prevalent among many farmers that a cow 
can be made to give rich or poor milk, depending 
on what she is fed, is entirely erroneous. 

Danish experiments. The Danes did a great 
deal of work, experimenting to ascertain whether 
or not feed influenced the richness of the milk, 
and in conducting their experiments used over a 
thousand animals. The average variation was 
only about one one-hundredth of one per cent. 
Such a slight variation cannot be attributed to 
the method of feeding. Experiments have been 
conducted by taking a poor herd of cows and test- 
ing each individual carefully and then feeding 
judiciously. The quantity of milk produced was 
easily increased, but the quality always remained 
normal. 



MILK SECRETION 29 

The fact that ^^fat cannot be fed into a cow'' 
is very important. A farmer can test the milk of 
a heifer, and if she does not produce milk of a 
satisfactory quality he need not keep her, for he 
may rest assured that the quality of her milk will 
not materially change later on in her life. In 
this way, therefore, it is possible for a farmer 
to build up a good herd by selecting his cows. 
This topic will be discussed more at length in a 
later chapter. 

EXERCISES 

1. Why are large ''milk veins" necessary to high 
milk production? 

2. How do we know that the udder is not a reser- 
voir in which milk is stored to be drawn at milking time? 

3. On the other hand, how do we know that milk is 
being secreted all the time but principally at milking 
time? 

4. Why do cows sometimes "leak" milk? Does this 
ever happen with light milkers f Hard milkers ? 

5. Can fat be fed into milk? 

6. What influence does feed have on milk, if any ? 

7. Do you know which cows of your herd give the 
richest milk? Which the poorest? 

LABORATORY PROBLEMS 
III. To Determine the Albumen in Milk 

1. Heat the filtrate obtained in Problem II to a 
boiling point for five minutes and filter ; boil for another 
five minutes and filter again. The filtrate should then 
be clear and will contain the sugar, ash, and some potash. 

2. Dry the residue on the filter paper. It is albumen. 



30 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

IV. To Determine the Ash and Sugar Content of Mn.K 

The filtrate obtained from Problem III will contain 
both the ash and the sugar, 

1. Evaporate to dryness over a water bath. The gray 
residue will be both the sugar and the ash. 

2. The residue can be burned over a free flame until 
the sugar is burned up. Ash Avill remain. 

The per cent of milk sugar can be approximately 
determined by carefully obtaining the per cent of the 
other constituents in milk, such as water, fat, casein, 
albumen, and ash, adding them all together and sub- 
tracting the sum from 100. 

Note: A qualitative test to show the presence of sugar can 
be made by using some of the filtrate. Add about 20 to 25 
drops of tiie filtrate slowly to about 5 c.c. of hot Fehling's 
solution. After boiling a red precipitate will appear. This 
indicates the presence of sugar. 



CHAPTER IV 
THE BABCOCK TEST 

As has already been stated, the Babcock test 
is responsible for much of the progress in dairy- 
ing during the past twenty-five years. Its opera- 
tion is so simple, the principles upon which it 
is based are so easily understood, and its intelli- 
gent use by dairymen is of such great importance 
that it is deemed quite proper to give consider- 
able space in this book to this test. 

How fat was formerly estimated. It will be 
remembered that milk is composed of water, fat, 
curd, sugar, and ash in varying proportions, and 
that the fat globules are simply floating or sus- 
pended in the milk serum. When these globules 
rise to the top naturally they drag the curd and 
other solids along with them and form a layer 
at the top, rich in fat, which we call cream. 
Before the invention of the Babcock test it was 
the practice in some places to collect samples of 
milk or cream, churn them, and melt the lumps 
of butter in graduated tubes, from which the 
amount of fat could be estimated. The purpose 
of melting the churned butter was to collect the 

31 



32 



PROFITABLE DAIRYING 



fat into a clear layer of oil. Sometimes several 
churnings and consequent recliurnings were nec- 
essary to make a clear test. This test, known 
as the churn test, was a slow, laborious, and 
somewhat unreliable process. 





Fig. 4. The two principal types of hand testers. 

The test measures the fat. In the Babcock 
test the separation of butter fat from the other 
constituents is accomplished in a few minutes. 
The curd is dissolved by a strong acid which 
will not act upon the fat. The fat globules are 
brought to the surface by whirling in a machine 
called a centrifuge. This layer of fat is brought 
up into the neck of the test bottles into which 
the samples of milk were placed at the begin- 
ning of the test, and the percentage of fat read 
directly from the neck of the test bottle. The 
entire test takes about ten or fifteen minutes of 
time, is thoroughly reliable, and can be made by 
anyone possessing ordinary intelligence. 



MILK SECRETION 



33 



DETAILS OF THE TEST 

1. Preparation of the 
sample. Great care is 
necessary in the prepa- 
ration of the sample. If 
a herd is to be tested, 
the entire milk of the 
whole herd must be 
thoroughly mixed be- 
fore a portion is taken 
for testing. This mix- 
ing is accomplished by 
pouring from one vessel 






Acid measure. Pipette. Test bottle. 

Fig. 5. Tlie necessary glassware for making- Babcock test. 

to another, and the sample taken immediately be- 
fore any of the fat globules have had time to rise. 



34 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

If the milk stands for even a minute after being 
mixed, the sample will not be accurate, so rap- 
idly do the fat globules tend to come to the 
surface. 

If a single cow is to be tested, she must first 
be milked perfectly dry, then all of her milk 
must be thoroughly mixed and a portion of this 
taken for testing. It is important to have all 
the cow's milk, as the fat content tends to in- 
crease during the process of milking, the strip- 
pings being much richer than the foremilk; often 
the foremilk will test less than one per cent, 
and the strippings over ten per cent fat. For 
this reason the sample can never be milked into 
a separate vessel if accurate results are desired, 
but must be taken from the whole amount of 
milk, and then only after a thorough stirring. 

If a small sample is to be tested, this too must 
be thoroughly mixed before the final sample is 
taken in the pipette. If more than one test is to 
be made from the same sample, the sample should 
be mixed each time before being drawn into the 
pipette. Thorough mixing i^ the most important 
part of sampling, and good sampling is one of the 
most important points to be observed in making 
a correct test. 

2. Filling the test bottle. When the sample 
has been thoroughly mixed, the milk should be 
drawn into the pipette by suction with the mouth 



THE BABCOCK TEST 



35 




Fig. 6. By slowly releas- 
ing tlie pressure of the finger 
at the top of the pipette, the 
milk i-uns without loss into 
the test bottle. 



until it rises above the mark on the stem. The 
forefinger of the hand in which the pipette is hekl 
is then quickly placed on 
top of the pipette and the 
milk is allowed to run 
down to the mark, where 
it is checked and held by 
the forefinger. The test 
bottle is taken in the other 
hand, slightly inclined, 
the filled pipette intro- 
duced into the neck, the 
finger removed and the 
milk allowed to run down 
the side of the' neck into the test bottle. Great 
care should bo used not to lose any of the sample; 
if only a few drops are spilled the test is spoiled 
and another sample should be taken. 

3. Adding the acid. Ordinary commercial sul- 
phuric acid at a specific gravity of 1.82 to 1.83 
should be used. It may be purchased at any drug 
store for three or four cents per pound. A better 
place, however, to obtain the acid is from some 
creamery or cheese factory. These factories use 
large quantities of it and usually are glad to 
supply parties wanting small quantities. It is 
poisonous and must not be allowed to come in 
contact with the skin, hands, clothing or tin or 
iron vessels. If by accident any should be spilled, 



36 



PROFITABLE DAIRYING 



it should be washed off immediately, using plenty 
of water. An application of diluted ammonia is 
very beneficial in neutralizing acid. 




•m 



Two types of double-necked 
skim-milk bottles. 



Whole milk Cream test 

bottle. bottle. 

Fig. 7. Every dairy laboratory should be equipped with a supply 
of these test bottles. 



In making the test the acid measure is filled 
to the mark with this acid, and the acid is poured 
down the inside of the neck of the test bottle in 
the same way in which the milk was introduced. 
It is important to let the acid run down the side 
of the bottle, and not drop it straight down 
through the milk, as this will burn the curd and 
cause black particles of burned curd to rise 
into the fat and spoil the test. 



THE BABCOCK TEST 37 

4. Mixing milk and acid. The milk and acid 
having been placed in the test bottle, are now 
mixed by taking the bottle by the neck and 
giving it a rotary motion. The acid immediately 
dissolves the curd, the bottle becomes hot and the 
contents turn black. 

5. Whirling and filling bottles. The bottles 
are now placed in the machine and whirled for 
five minutes. They are then filled up to the 
bottom of the neck with hot water, using either 
the acid measure or the pipette for this purpose. 
If hard water is used the carbonates in it must 
be broken up by adding to it a few drops of 
acid before filling the bottles, otherwise the car- 
bonates in the water may cause a foam to appear 
on the fat and spoil the reading. Only a few 
drops of acid should be used, and to prevent 
accident these should be dropped from the acid 
measure and not from the bottle. Great care is 
necessary in handling this acid. 

The bottles are whirled a second time for one 
or two minutes, the fat is then brought up into 
the neck by adding a few more drops of hot 
water, the bottles returned to the tester and 
whirled a third time for a minute or two, when 
they are taken out and placed in a water bath 
having a temperature of 120-140 degrees F., 
where the fat column should be submerged for 
four or fiYQ minutes. 



38 



PROFITABLE DAIRYING 



6. Reading the fat. The fat column is read 
from its highest point to its lowest point while 
yet hot (130-145 degrees F.) and before it has 
had time to contract. If the fat should get cold 
it may be melted by placing the bottles in hot 
water well up to the neck. 

If both ends of the fat column are above the 
zero point, note the reading of these two points 

n 




Reading- the test by use of dividers. 
The dividers in the first posi- The dividers in the second po- 

tion for reading the test. sition. 

Fig. 8. 

and take their difference. For example: If the 
lowest point of the fat is 1.8 per cent and the 
highest is 5.6 per cent, then the per cent of fat 
is 5.6 — 1.8 or 3.8 per cent. A quicker way is 
to place a pair of dividers against the neck of 



THE BABCOCK TEST ' 39 

the test bottle with the legs so spread that one 
of them rests on the highest point and the other 
on the lowest point of the fat, and then move 
it down so that the lower leg rests at the zero 
point; the upper will rest at the correct reading 
of the fat. 

7. Emptying the waste. The waste in the bot- 
tles should never be emptied into anything but 
earthen jars. This waste contains much strong 
acid, and should be thrown where it cannot do 
injury to plants or animals. It is customary 
to place a board cover over an ordinary jar, 
and then bore holes about an inch in diameter 
through this cover. Through these holes the 
necks of the inverted test bottles are thrust and 
their contents allowed to drain into the waste 
jar. The jar is then emptied where its con- 
tents are not likely to cause injury, and washed 
out with hot water to remove the grease unde- 
stroyed by the acid. 

The importance of every dairyman owning a 
pair of scales and a Babcock tester is discussed 
in a later chapter of this work. 

EXERCISES 

1. Why are the milk bottles whirled at high speed 
in making a Babcock test? 

2. What is the strong acid used for ? 

3. Why should the milk be thoroughly mixed imme- 
diately before taking the sample? 



40 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

4. Do you know the 'Hest" of each of your cows? 

5. If not, take samples of the milk of each and 
test according to directions given. Great care should 
be exercised in taking the sample. Follow directions 
very carefully. If you do not happen to have a tester, 
ask your butter or cheese maker to test the samples 
for you or allow you to use his tester. 

6. Can you give four reasons why the fat column 
in the neck of the milk test bottle may be light in color 
or have curd underneath the fat column? 

7. Why do you read the extremes" of the fat column 
from the bottom of the fat column to the bottom of 
the upper meniscus? 

LABORATORY PROBLEMS 
V. To Test Sample of Milk by the Babcock Test 
Obtain samples of milk and proceed as follows : 

a. Pour sample from one container to another sev- 
eral times in order to thoroughly mix the milk. 

b. Immediately fill a 17.6 c.c. pipette to the mark 
on the stem and transfer to a milk test bottle. 

c. Add 17.5 c.c. sulphuric acid and mix the same 
by holding the bottle in an inclined position and whirl- 
ing it horizontally. Whirl until all the acid is mixed 
with the milk. 

d. Place in tester and whirl for five minutes. Be 
sure that the tester is balanced. In case of an odd 
number of bottles, fill one with water and balance 
the tester wdth it. 

e. Fill the bottle to the neck with hot water to 
which has been added a few drops of sulphuric acid; 
whirl two minutes more. 



THE BABCOCK TEST 41 

f. Add hot acidulated water, so as to bring the fat 
up to the 8 per cent mark. Give it a final whirling 
for tAvo minutes. 

g. Take bottles out of tester and place in water 
bath for four or five minutes. 

Precautions 

a. Never open the tester while the bottles are in 
motion. 

b. Both milk and acid should be about room tem- 
perature. Do not use hot acid or hot milk. 

c. Always have a bottle of ammonia Avater handy 
to use in case of an accident. If acid comes in con- 
tact with clothing, immediately use cold water and 
then ammonia water. 

d. In case acid is accidentally spilled on the hands 
or the face, wash off at once with plenty of cold water. 
In case of a serious burn, consult a physician. 

LABORATORY PROBLEMS 

VI. To Determine the Importance of Thoroughly Mixing 
THE Sample Just Before Taking Sample with a Pipette 

a. Mix well a sample of milk. Test it at once. 

b. Allow the sample to stand for ten minutes. 

c. Take a sample with a pipette from the top of 
the milk. Test. 

d. Take another sample from the bottom of the 
milk. Test. Compare results. Can you account for 
the difference in the tests obtained? 



CHAPTER V 
THE DAIRY COW 

Generally speaking, cattle may be classified as 
belonging* to one of three types, viz. : beef, clual- 
pnrpose, and dairy. 

The beef-type. To the beef-type belong those 
which are kept on farms solely for their value 
as beef producers. They are as a rule compact 
in form, having a broad back and a deep, wide 
body. They are not adapted for dairying inas- 
much as they usually do not secrete more milk 
than is necessary to raise the calf. They have 
small udders and are not persistent in their flow 
of milk. There are, however, individual excep- 
tions among most of these breeds that produce 
a fair amount of milk, but the tendency of the 
members of this type is to convert their food 
into beef rather than into milk. To this type 
belong the Shorthorns, Hereford, Aberdeen An- 
gus, Galloway, and Sussex cattle. 

The dual-purpose-type. To the dual-purpose- 
type belong those cattle that produce more 
milk than those of the beef-type, and at the 
same time flesh up reasonably well. They are 

42 



THE DAIRY COW 43 

usually less in width than the beef-type and have 
larger udders. They are presumed to milk well 
and when ^'dry'^ to convert their food rapidly 
into beef. There are many arguments produced 
both in favor of such a type and against it. 




Fig-. 9. Beef-type. 
Note the blocky form of the animal's body. 

It is argued by some that such breeds are really 
necessary in certain sections of this country. 
This type is many a farmer's ideal; but it is still 
a question whether or not such an ideal will 
ever be profitably realized. The Red Polled, 
Devon, and Brown Swiss cattle are the prom- 
inent breeds classed as dual-purpose animals, 
though strictly speaking as individuals they 
tend either to produce milk or beef rather than 
both. Certain families of the Shorthorns are 
also included because they give a good quantity 



44 



PROFITABLE DAIRYING 



of high-testing milk and at the same time are 
fair producers of beef. 

The dairy-type. The dairy-type inckides such 
breeds as are not inclined to produce beef. They 




Fig-. 10, Dairy-type. 
The difference between beef- and dairy-types. The beef ani- 
mal lias straight top and bottom lines, while the dairy cow is 
wedge shaped. 

necessarily have less breadth of back, and, unlike 
the beef breeds, fleshiness is not desired. Cows 
belonging to this type should have a tendency 
to produce milk and not to convert their food 
into beef. It is difficult to describe briefly the 
many desirable points which indicate a good 
dairy cow. "Authorities usually agree that the 
ideal cow should have what is termed a ^^ triple 
wedge ^' form. It must be noted, however, 



THE DAIRY COW 



45 




that occasionally there 
are individuals that do 
not conform to the ideal, 
yet are good dairy cows. 
However, these are only 
exceptions. It is of the 
utmost importance that 
the dairy cow have ample 
room in her body for 
such organs as the lungs, 
heart, digestive, and ma- 
ternal organs. This indi- 
cates a vigorous constitu- 
tion, which is necessary 
in order that she may be 
able to Avithstand the 
strain of continually pro- 




ng. 11. Look for the wedges. 
The body should be wedge-shaped when viewed from the front 
and top of the withers, wider at the hip bones and at the floor of 
the chest than at the point of the withers. 



46 



PROFITABLE DAIRYING 




Fig-. 12. Great digestive capacity is essential. 
Fullness of flanks and good depth from the hips to the lower line 
of the rear flank and of the udder, together with well-sprung- ribs, 
far apart, indicate a large digestive capacity. 




Fig. 13. A shallow body lacks capacity. 
A narrow head, small eyes, nostrils and mouth, usually accom- 
pany a narrow, shallow body. A cow with these characteristics 
proves a disappointment as a milk producer. 



THE DAIRY COW 47 

ducing large quantities of milk. This widening 
of the body towards the rear gives to her the 




Fig-. 14. Four types of undesirable udders. 
Udders deficient in the forequarters, irregular in the size of quar- 
ters, pendulous in form or funnel shaped make milking hard and 
reduce the capacity for milk production. 



"wedge form.'' Inasmuch as she is usually 
compared to a machine which converts food into 
milk, it is very essential that she have a large 
"barrel/' which is an indication that she can 



48 



PROFITABLE DAIRYING 



consume a large supply of food for tlie manu- 
facture of lier milk. 

The ideal udder. The udder should be ample 
in size; it should have good form with four well- 
shaped teats; it should be soft after milking 
and materially smaller than before milking. 




Fig. 15. The location of the milk wells. 
Several milk wells of good size through which the mammary- 
veins pass into the body are the best indications of the amount 
of blood that cii'culates through the udder and supplies the milk 
secreting glands. 



Meaty udders are very undesirable, as they indi- 
cate a lack of capacity. Since the udder must 
be well supplied with arteries and veins in 
order to furnish the milk-secreting cells with the 
food material from which they are to secrete 



THE DAIRY COW 49 

milk, a good cow usually has large milk veins 
underneath her belly. 

Production the best quality of a dairy cow. 
Though a good dairy cow usually possesses most 
of the desirable characteristics shown on the 
score card at the end of this chapter, it is suffi- 
cient to say here that the real test of her value 
as a dairy cow is her butter fat producing 
ability. This can only be learned by using a 
pair of scales to ascertain the amount of milk 
she produces, and a fat test to determine the 
richness of her milk. There are many cows 
that give a good flow of milk, reasonably rich 
in fat, during the fore part of their period of 
lactation, yet cows of this kind may be very 
undesirable animals to keep, owing to the fact 
that they may not be persistent milkers. The 
value of the methods employed in determining 
the productive qualities of an individual cow are 
discussed in detail in a separate chapter in this 
book. 

Pure dairy breeds best. It is unfortunate for 
the dairy industry that we do not find more pure- 
bred stock in this country. The farmer should 
raise pure-bred stock because it is usually more 
profitable for him to do so rather than to raise 
*^ scrubs.'' It may cost a trifle more to begin 
with, but it will be money well invested if he 
intends to make dairying a paying business. In 



50 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

case lie cannot begin with pure-bred stock, it 
will be well for liim to grade up liis cattle as 
rapidly as possible by the use of a pure-bred 
sire. Brief discussion of a few of the distinctive 
dairy breeds, representatives of which are found 
in almost every community, follow. 

Jersey. As the name indicates, this breed 
originally came from the Isle of Jersey, which 
is one of the small islands in the English 
Channel. Here the people bred their cattle along 
distinctive lines, with the result that they estab- 
lished a breed that has many able and enthu- 
siastic supporters. The Jerseys are usually 
small cows, weighing from 650 to 1,000 pounds, 
averaging about 900 pounds each. They pro- 
duce milk rich in fat, testing 4 per cent and 
over. As a rule they are persistent milkers, 
but usually do not produce large quantities of 
milk. This latter statement is sometimes used 
as an argument against them. These animals 
have some good records to sustain their claim 
as a worthy dairy breed. At the World's 
Columbian Exposition, held in Chicago in 1893, 
a ninety-day test was conducted in which twenty- 
five Jerseys took part. Several of these animals 
were sick, but in spite of this the milk produced 
amounted to thirty-three pounds a day for each 
cow. At the St. Louis Exposition in 1904, 
twenty-five cows produced milk averaging forty- 



THE DAIRY COW 



51 



one and one-half pounds daily for ninety days. 
These are remarkable showings and speak well 
for this breed. Although at present the mem- 
bers of this breed are small in stature, the time 
will doubtless come when breeders will be able 
to develop certain families of a larger frame and 
more vigorous constitution than the Jersey of 




Fig. 16. Old Double Time. 
A prize Jersey in the University of Wisconsin herd. 



the present time, and at the same time pre- 
serve in the families the desirable qualities pos- 
sessed by the Jersey cow today. 

Holstein-Friesian. It is not known just where 
the ancestors of this famous breed originated, 
but it is well known that Holstein-Friesians have 
been in Holland for hundreds of years, and that 



52 



PROFITABLE DAIRYING 



the breed is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, 
in existence. The individuals have a large frame 
and weigh from 1,000 to 1,400 pounds. They 
are good feeders of roughage, and on account 
of this stand in favor with many farmers. The 
milk is not so rich as that of some other breeds, 
but what it lacks in quality is usually made 
up in quantity. 




Fig. 17. Maplecrest Pontiac Daisy DeKol. 
A high-testing Holstein cow, testing on official record 4.13 per cent. 

The flow is, as a rule, exceedingly large and 
certain families of this breed produce milk test- 
ing 4 per cent and over. The greatest record of 
any cow for the amount of milk produced was 
that of a Holstein-Friesian, viz., Pieterje Second. 
This remarkable animal produced 30,3151/0 



THE DAIRY COW 53 

pounds of milk in one year. Cows of this breed 
have been reported as producing as much as 
I22Y2 pounds of milk per day. At the St. Louis 
Fair in 1904, fifteen Holstein-Friesian cows were 
entered in competition with Jerseys and other 
breeds. They were milked for 120 days and 
averaged 53.4 pounds each day. Any good 
Holstein-Friesian cow will produce six or seven 
thousand pounds of milk each year if she is 
given proper care and treatment. 

Guernsey. This breed has become exceed- 
ingly popular within the last few years. Like 
the Jersey, it derives its name from the island 
on which the breed originated, which is another 
of the islands in the British Channel. Mem- 
bers of this breed have larger frames than the 
Jerseys. They also have more vigorous con- 
stitutions and average 1,050 pounds in weight. 
They are good milkers and their milk is of a 
superior quality which tests well. This breed 
produces a butter fat which is distinctively 
yellow. In fact, some of the butter produced 
from the milk of Guernsey cows and exhibited 
at a dairy convention was so yellow that it was 
believed by the judges to contain coloring mat- 
ter. The butter was accordingly analyzed and 
found • to be entirely free from such artificial 
ingredients. The milk from this breed is splen- 
didly adapted for city milk trade on account of 



54 



PROFITABLE DAIRYING 



this rich yellow tinge so attractive to the cus- 
tomer. The milk of the Guernsey is not usually 
quite so rich in fat as that of the Jersey, but 
the quantity given is somewhat greater. At the 
Pan-American Exposition the Jersey milk tested 
4.82 per cent, while the Guernsey milk tested 
4.68 per cent. 




Fig. 18. Dolly Dimple. 

A typical Guernsey cow. Note the well-shaped udder with its 

high attachments. 

It was at this exposition held at Buffalo that 
the ten-year-old Guernsey cow, Mary Marshall, 
produced 5,611 pounds of milk, yielding 301.13 
pounds of butter fat in a test covering a period 
of six months. A statement of the records of 



THE DAIRY COW 



55 



Yeksa Sunbeam, May Rilma and Murne Cowan, 
Guernsey cows, is given on page 99. 

Ayrshire. These cows are found principally 
in New England, the Eastern States and Can- 
ada. They came originally from Scotland and 
possess a great deal of merit. Like the Holstein- 
Friesian they are as a rule persistent milkers. 




Fig. 19. Lilly. 
A splendid type of Ayrshire dairy cow. 

They are medium-sized animals, weighing about 
1,000 pounds. The milk of this breed of cows 
is particularly adapted for cheese making, owing 
to the small size of its fat globules and its rel- 
atively large casein content. The milk usually 
tests from 3.5 to 4 per cent fat. At the Pan- 



56 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

American Exposition the five Ayrshire cows 
ranked second in milk production, yielding 55 
pounds per cow for each day of the test. 

Dual-purpose breeds. In addition to the above 
leading" dairy herds, there have been developed 
milking strains of the so-called dual-purpose 
breeds that give promise in the dairy world. 
Chief among these are the Brown Swiss, the Red 
Polled, and the Milking Shorthorns. It is argued 
in support of these breeds that their calves will 
help to supply the market for ^'baby-beef and 
that their carcasses are much more valuable to 
the butcher than those of the strictly dairy 
breeds. It is quite probable, however, that when 
these breeds have developed striking dairy qual- 
ities, their forms will also change so as to 
render them less valuable for meat production. 

EXERCISES 

1. Why should a dairy cow have a ''big middle ?" 

2. Why cannot an animal be a good beef and a 
good dairy cow at the same time? 

3. Does a ''heavy milker" often lay on flesh? 
Why? 

4. Why is it necessary to "dry off " a cow in order 
to fatten her ? 

5. To what breed do your cows belong? 

6. Of what type are they ? 

7. For your own satisfaction select the three cows 
in your own herd which are of the best dairy-type by 



THE DAIRY COW 57 

comparison with the description and pictures in this 
book and by use of the score card and the comparison 
card above. 

LABORATORY PROBLEMS 

VII. To Determine the Variation in the Fat Content from 

THE Same Cow During the Process of Milking 

a. Obtain samples of milk at the beginning of the 
milking. 

b. Obtain sample of milk at about the middle of the 
milking. 

c. Obtain sample of milk at the end of milking. 
Samples a, b and c can best be obtained by milking 
directly into small bottles. 

d. Pour all the milk obtained (except samples a, 
b and c) back and forth several times. Sample. 

Test all four samples and compare results. Why 
does the milk increase in richness during the milking 
process? 

VIII. To Determine the Variation of the Fat Content of 

Milk from One Milking to Another 

Sample and weigh each milking from an individual 
cow for a period of four days. 

Tabulate the data and if possible plot a curve show- 
ing ; 

a. Variation in the test of the milk. 

b. Variation in the quantity of the milk produced. 

c. Variation in the amount of fat obtained at each 
milking. 



58 THE DAIRY COW 

DAIRY CATTLE COMPARISON CARD 



Student. 
Date 





1st 
place 


2nd 
place 


3rd 
place 


4th 
place 


5th 
place 


Dairy temperament 












Capacity 












Sl5:in 












Constitution 












Top line 












Head 












Neck 












Shoulder 












Body 












Rump 












Veining 












Fore — udder 












Rear — udder 












Teats 












Udder 












Breed Characteristics 












Placing 













PROFITABLE DAIRYING 



59 



SCALE OF POINTS 



Indication of Capacity for 
Feed — 25 Points 

Face, broad between the eyes 
and long; muzzle clean cut; 
mouth large; lips strong; 
lower jaws lean and sinewy 

Bod!/, wedge shape as viewed 
from front, side and top; 
ribs, long, far apart and 
well sprung; breast full and 
wide; flanks, deep and full 

Back, straight; chine, broad 
and open; loin, broad and 
roomy 

Hips and thurls, wide apart 
and high 



Indication of Dairy Temper- 
ament — 25 Points 

Head, clean cut and fine in 
contour; eyes, prominent, 
full and bright 

Neck, thin, long, neatly joined 
to head and shoulders and 
free from throatiness and 
dewlap 

Brisket, lean and light 

Shoulders, lean, sloping, nice- 
ly laid up to body; points 
prominent; withers sharp. 

Back, strong, prominent to 
tail head and open jointed . 

Hips, prominent, sharp and 
level with back 

Thighs, thin and incurving. . 

Tail, fine and tapering 

Legs, straight ; shank fine . . . 

Indication of Well Devel- 
oped Milk Organs — 25 
Points 
Rump, long, wide and level; 

pelvis roomy 

Thighs, wide apart; twist, 
high and open 



Per- 
fect 



10 



Points 
Deficient 



Stu- 
dent's 
score 



Cor- 
rected 



Points 
Deficient 



Stu 
dent's 
score 



Cor- 
rected 



60 



PROFITABLE DAIRYING 





Per- 
fect 


Points 
Deficient 


Points 
Deficient 


SCALE OF POINTS 


Stu- 
dent's 
score 


Cor- 
rected 


Stu- 
dent's 
score 


Cor- 
rected 


Udder, large, pliable, extend- 
ing well forward and high 
up behind; quarters, full, 
symmetrical, evenly joined 
and well held up to body. . 


15 
4 

2 
3 
5 

7 

7 
1 










Teats, plumb, good size, sym- 
metrical and well placed . . . 










Indications of Strong Circu- 
latory System, Health, 
Vigor and Milk Flow— 
25 Points 

Eyes, bright and placid 

Nostrils, large and open 

Chest, roomy 

Skin, pliable; hair, fine and 
straight; secretions, abun- 
dant in ear, on body and at 


































Veins, prominent on face and 
udder; mammary veins, 
large, long, crooked and 
branching; milk wells large 
and numerous 




1 






Escutcfieon, wide and extend- 
ing high up 




















Total 


100 














CHAPTER VI 
TESTING THE FARM HERD 

No dairyman should keep a cow that produces 
less than 250 pounds of butter fat annually, and 
an average of a pound a day for 300 days of the 
year is not too high a standard. Whole herds 
have frequently been found which produce much 
more than that. 

The three-hundred-pound standard. In a single 
month Colantha 4th 's Johanna produced 110.83 
pounds of butter fat, a larger amount than is 
produced in a whole year by so-called *^ dairy 
cows" in many herds. In all the numerous 
^' official" tests that have been made in Wis- 
consin during the past few years, very few of 
the cows have been found to fall below the 
300-pound mark, and the majority of them exceed 
400 pounds of butter fat annually. 

Profit on 350 pounds butter production per 
cow. Adopting 300 pounds of butter fat as a 
standard which the dairyman may reasonably 
expect his cows to attain, let us see what such 
a cow is worth to him. It is well known that 
the amount of butter made from a given quan« 
tity of butter fat exceeds the weight of fat by 

61 



62 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

about one-sixth. This is because the water, 
curd, and salt, which are normal constituents 
of butter, added to the fat, increase its weight. 
Three hundred pounds of fat, then, will make 
one-sixth more butter, or 350 pounds of butter. 
During the past lave years good creamery but- 
ter has averaged about twenty-seven cents per 
pound the year round.* The cow that has returned 
to the farmer 350 pounds of good butter has 
brought him $95, a pretty neat sum. And here, 
too, many let the calculation stop. Herein lies 
the error. Though the cow has returned to the 
farmer this amount, he must not forget that she 
has cost him something in feed and care. Dur- 
ing this same period this cost has not been far 
from $50 per year in the north central states. 
Deducting this from the amount received for 
the butter leaves a profit of $45. Neither must 
it be forgotten that in addition to this there is 
tJie skim-milk which has been fed to the pigs 
and calves, from which additional profit has 
been secured. Nor should we forget that she 
has eaten hay and grain raised on the farm, 
and the fertility in the manure has probably 
found its way back to the soil. 

Profit in 200 pounds of butter production per 
cow. Let us suppose another case. Instead of 
producing fat for 350 pounds of butter, let us 

*The five years preceding the world war. 



TESTING THE FARM HERD 63 

see what would have been the result had she 
produced sufficient fat for 200 pounds of butter 
only. This butter at the same rate would have 
brought $54, and the farmer's profit would have 
been but $4, or less than one-eleventh as much 
as that of the first cow. In other words, the 
first cow is worth more to the dairyman than 
eleven of the second. 

Loss on 150 pounds of butter production per 
cow. Looking at it from still another point of 
view, suppose another cow can produce but 150 
pounds of butter annually, what is she worth? 
Let us see. At twenty-seven cents per pound 
this amount of butter is worth $40.50, or $9.50 
less than it costs to keep the cow that pro- 
duced it. 

Where dairying has been tried and abandoned 
as improfitable, in nine cases out of ten it has 
been because the farmer kept just this kind of 
cow. How necessary then that he should know 
just what each member of his herd is worth to 
him. He can know this if he is willing to spend 
the time and effort necessary to weigh and test 
the milk of each cow in his herd. 

How individual tests are made. The test is 
made in the following manner: A bottle holding 
about a pint is labeled, showing the name and 
number of the cow, and into this bottle is placed 
a piece of bichromate of potassium the size of 



64 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

a pea. This chemical is a cheap preservative 
which can be purchased at any drug store and 
is used to keep the sample from souring. 

Before the milk is sampled it is thoroughly 
mixed, as stated under directions for sampling 
already given in the chapter on the Babcock 
test, and a few tablespoonfuls of this milk is 
placed in the bottle. This sampling is repeated 
at each successive milking and the sample for 
testing is taken from this composite sample. In 
this way a single test will answer for each cow. 
If the cream in the sample gets thick or churns, 
it may be easily mixed up again with the milk 
if the sample bottle is first placed in warm 
water. In making a composite test, the same 
care should be exercised in mixing the sample 
as is necessary in all testing with the Babcock 
test. 

How to get reliable records. By taking com- 
posite samples of the milk from each cow in the 
herd, testing them weekly and keeping an accu- 
rate record of these tests and of the weight of 
milk given by each cow every day of her milking 
period, the dairyman may ascertain for himself 
exactly what each cow is worth to him. This 
is the best and only reliable method, and the one 
followed at most well-regulated dairies. Of 
course it takes time, but it pays in the long run. 

A shorter method. Fairly accurate results may 



TESTING THE FARM HERD 65 

be obtained, however, by weighing and testing 
one day in each week during the whole period of 
lactation, multiplying the weight by • 7 to get 
the amount given by each cow. Another prac- 
tical method is to take weights and composite 
samples for six consecutive days each month 
during the whole period of lactation, and to 
multiply these weights by 5 to get the weight of 
milk given by each cow during each particular 
month of her milking period. 

A test of little value. Too many farmers make 
a single weight and test of the milk of their 
several cows and then let the matter drop. This 
is a serious mistake, as it teaches next to noth- 
ing, and the only w^ay that the dairyman may 
know exactly what each of his cows is worth to 
him is by testing frequently, weighing every day 
in the year and multiplying the total weight 
by the average test to get the weight of butter 
fat. There are shorter methods requiring less 
time, but they are all open to one objection — 
inaccuracy — and are not recommended. 

Simpler but less accurate methods. The 
simplest and easiest of these methods is to weigh 
and test the milk of each cow for six days dur- 
ing the fifth month of her milking period. It 
has been shown by experiment that the fat pro- 
duction for the fifth month represents to a con- 
siderable degree the average production for the 



66 



PROFITABLE DAIRYING 



ten months that a cow is in milk. If this be 
true, then this weight multiplied by five wdll 
give the average weight produced monthly, and 
this monthly average multiplied by ten will give 




Fig-. 20. Colleg-e Bravura 2nd. 
A fine old Brown Swiss cow of marked dairy-type. 

the total amount of milk produced in ten months, 
the number of months every good dairy cow 
should give milk during the year. This total 
amount of milk multiplied by the test will give 
the yield of fat, to which one-sixth is added to 
find the butter yield. This method is rapid and 
fairly accurate. One example to illustrate: Sup- 
pose a cow is found to give 100 pounds of milk 
in six days during the fifth month of lactation. 
Then 100 X 5 X 10 -= 5,000 pounds of milk an- 



TESTING THE FARM HERD Q7 

nually. The test is 4.2 per cent. Then 5,000 X 4.2 
per cent = 210 pounds butter fat; 1/6 of 210 is 
35 ; then 210 + 35 = 245, or this cow produces 
approximately 245 pounds of butter annually. 

How to apply the results of the test. Every 
good dairyman should know about what each 
cow in his herd is producing and send to the 
slaughter house all cows that are not yielding 
him a profit. The only way for him to learn 
this is by weighing and testing the milk from 
each cow in some such manner as has been out- 
lined herein, preferably for every day of the 
time that the cow is in milk during the year. 
It should also be added that he should take into 
account the amount of feed consumed by each 
cow. It is not always the largest fat producers 
that are the most profitable cows, but the ones 
that produce the largest amount of fat at the 
least cost. 

A single cow's record. In order to stimulate 
an interest in the production end of dairying, it 
is usually an easy matter for a high-school 
teacher to make arrangements with some party 
owning a cow whereby students are allowed to 
keep records of the production of some particular 
cow or cows. On the next page is given the 
record of a single cow in a herd belonging to a 
cow-testing association organized and conducted 
by schoolboys: 



68 



PROFITABLE DAIRYING 



RECORD OF COW NO. 5 

Milk Pounds Value 

B. F. B. F. 

December 954 38.1 $ 13.18 

January 784 31.3 14.06 

February 638 26.8 11.39 

March 725 29.7 11.88 

April 766 34.5 13.45 

Mav 623 28 9.24 

June 762 40.4 12.52 

July 254 19 5.13 

August Dry 

September 834 31.7 13.63 

October 834 31.7 13.63 

November .... 858 28.3 13.58 



Cost of 


1912-13 


Feed 


Net Returns 


$ 6.06 


$ 7.12 


6.06 


8.00 


5.47 


5.92 


6.99 


4.89 


6.76 


6.69 


3.78 


5.46 


2.00 


10.52 


2.00 


3.13 


2.00 


—2.00 


2.00 


11.63 


2.00 


11.63 


4.08 


9.50 



8,032 339.5 $131.69 $49.20 $82.49 

Herd records. The following shows the rec- 
ord of all the herds belonging to an association: 

CLASSIFICATION OF HERDS 







Butter Fat Basis— 1913 








Number 


Av. Lbs. 


Av. 


Av. Lbs. 


Highest 


Lowest 


Rank 


: Cows 


Milk 


Test 


Butter Fat Producer Producer 


1... 


... 12 


7,901 


3.86% 


305 


376.3 


229.7 


2. . . 


... 18 


8,376 


3.53 


296 


332.9 


183 


3... 


... 13 


8,041 


3.65 


293.3 


344.1 


214.7 


4... 


... 15 


6,561 


4.38 


287.7 


393.5 


124.7 


5... 


... 28 


7,753 


3.62 


280.7 


426.8 


110.6 


6... 


... 16 


5,815 


4.68 


280.5 


446.3 


188.7 


7... 


8 


8,317 


3.28 


273.4 


367.9 


229.7 


8... 


... 18 


7,627 


3.53 


272.6 


371.2 


204.8 


9... 


6 


6,452 


3.87 


261.5 


339.5 


197.5 


10... 


... 13 


6,213 


4.20 


261.1 


294.3 


114 


11... 


... 17 


6,772 


3.6 


243.9 


312 


105.3 


12... 


... 11 


5,881 


3.96 


233.3 


281.7 


177.5 


13... 


... 8 


4,964 


4.60 


228.4 


344.9 


158.5 


14... 


7 


6,339 


3.55 


226.4 


274.5 


184.5 


15 . . . 


... 22 


6,288 


3.53 


222.1 


366.8 


166.6 


16... 


. .. 18 


5,405 


3.83 


206 


289.8 


146.3 


17... 


... 24 


5,007 


3.64 


182.3 


238.6 


120.9 


18... 


... 10 


4,337 


3.68 


160 


280.4 


44 



Total. 264 
Average of Ass'n. 6,924 
Av. cost of feed.. $48. 79 
Average profit. . . 52.14 



3.78 



261.7 



TESTING THE FARM HERD 



69 



A study of the table below will show the 
reasons for good herds. 



cows PRODUCING 



Rank 


Less 


100 to 


200 to 


250 to 


300 to 


350 to 


400 to 




150 lbs. 


250 lbs. 


250 lbs. 


300 lbs. 


350 lbs. 


400 lbs. 


450 lbs. 


Tota 


1... 






2 


4 


1 


5 




12 


2... 




i 


4 


9 


4 






18 


3... 




. . 


4 


. . 


9 






13 


4... 


*i 


. . 


3 


3 


6 


'2 




15 


5... 


5 


4 


6 


6 


3 


1 






28 


6... 


. . 


1 


3 


7 


3 


1 


1 


16 


7... 


. . 







3 


2 


1 




8 


8... 


. . 




6 


6 


4 


2 






18 


9... 


. . 


2 




3 


1 








6 


10... 


1 


3 


• '5 


4 










13 


11... 


o 


4 


7 


2 


'2 








17 


12... 




4 


5 













11 


13... 




3 


1 


4 










8 


14... 






6 


1 










7 


15... 




'9 


6 


5 


i 


i 






22 


16... 


i 


5 


10 


2 










18 


17... 


4 


16 


4 












24 


18... 


1 


3 


4 


'2 










10 



Totals 15 55 78 63 36 13 4 264 
RECORD OP HERD NO. 8 

Pounds Returns 

Cow Milk Butter Fat Value B. F. Cost Feed B F.— C. F. 

3 5,787 265.4 $104.38 $49.20 $55.18 

4 7,489 270.2 107.49 49.20 58.29 

5 8,032 339.5 131.69 49.20 82.49 

6 4,997 198.4 72.94 47.52 25.42 

8 7,837 298.7 116.74 49.20 67.54 

9 4,572 197.5 76.60 36.06 40.54 

Av 6,452 261.6 101.64 46.73 54.91 

Without 

No.9.6,828 274.4 106.65 48.86 57.79 

Increase 376 12.8 5.01 2.13 2.88 

EXERCISES 

1. From the data given in the record of cow No. 5 
calculate the fat test for each month. 

2. Using same data determine the price allowed for 
each pound of butter fat for each month. 



70 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

3. Using the price per pound of butter fat just 
obtained calculate the total returns from each herd in 
the association. 

4. At the average cost of feed Dcr cow given at the 
bottom of the table what is the net profit made by each 
herd? 

5. The average net profit per cow in each herd? 

6. Do you know the profit over cost of feed of your 
own herd? 

7. By use of one of the methods described in the 
last chapter determine this for the home herd. 

LABORATORY PROBLEMS 
IX. To Test Samples of Milk Which Are Partially Churned 

It frequently happens that milk which has been put 
in bottles and carried some distance becomes partially 
churned. The difficulty in testing such samples arises 
from the fact the milk cannot be accurately sampled. 
The following method will give accurate results if 
carefully performed. 

a. Take a small quantity of milk (200 to 300 c.c.) 
and test to determine the true percentage of fat it 
contains. 

b. Shake the remainder of the sample in a tightly 
sealed bottle until butter granules appear on the sides 
of the bottle. 

c. Add about 10 c.c. of ether to the sample to dis- 
solve all the churned butter granules. If 10 c.c.'s are 
not sufficient, add a few more. It is necessary to keep 
an exact account of the amount used. 

d. When all the butter granules have been dis- 
solved, sample as in the case of milk. Add only one 



TESTING THE FARM HERD 7I 

or two c.c. of acid at first and gently shake. Do not 
hurry the process, but give the ether plenty of time 
to evaporate. The acid should be added in small por- 
tions until the required amount has been added. 

e. The reading must be corrected to allow for the 
ether added. Compare the result with the test of the 
original milk. 

Note: This exercise requires extreme care and skill in its 
manipulation if accurate results are to be obtained. 

X. To Determine the Calibration of Glassware Used in 
Connection with Babcock Test 

a. Fill a 10 per cent milk test bottle to the zero 
mark with water. With a strip of blotting paper, 
carefully absorb the water adhering to the sides of 
the neck of the bottle. Observe particularly that the 
height of the water is exactly at the zero mark. 

b. With a graduated burette, drop 2 c.c. of water 
into the bottle. Observe the height to which it fills 
the bottle. Test bottles are so made that it takes 2 c.c. 
to fill 10 per cent on the neck of the bottle, i. e., 
2 c.c. of water or alcohol should exactly fill the space 
from to the 10 per cent mark. 

c. Prepare another bottle as under '*a." Insert 
a Trowbridge plunger and observe the height to which 
it raises the water. 

d. Cream bottles can likewise be tested. 

e. Into a beaker place the contents of a 17.6 c.c. 
pipette of milk. If the pipette is accurate the amount 
of milk delivered will weigh 18 grams. 

Note: In calibrating glassware many prefer to use colored 
denatured alcohol. The liquid should be at room temperature. 
It is not advisable to hold the bottles in the hand, as the 
heat of the hand may change the temperature and make the 
results inaccurate. 



CHAPTER VII 
CREAM SEPARATION 

Three methods of cream separation. There are 
three methods of cream separation in common 
use, viz., gravity, dilution, and centrifugal. Of 
these three, gravity is the oldest and until very 
recent years the most widely used method. It 
consists simply in setting the milk in cans or 
pans and allowing the fat to rise to the top, 
it being forced up by gravity because it is so 
mu<ih lighter than the milk serum. In the dilu- 
tion process cold or warm water is poured 
directly into the milk on the theory that it will 
make the milk thinner and allow the fat glob- 
ules to rise to the top more easily. In the cen- 
trifugal process the fat is separated from the 
milk by centrifugal force, that force which 
causes the mud to fly from a rapidly revolving 
wagon wheel or the water from a grindstone. In 
this process the milk is run into a rapidly revolv- 
ing bowl and the heavier part of the milk, which 
is the skim-milk, is crowded to the outside and 
the lighter portion, which is the cream, is forced 
toward the center. Each portion is crowded 

72 



CREAM SEPARATION 



73 



out through little holes into spouts provided for 
the purpose of carrying them into their respec- 
tive vessels. Of these three methods centrifugal 
separation is by far the most efficient. 




Fig. 21. A cow with marked dairy temperament. 
Clean cut features about the head and face, the fine clean neck, 
the prominence and sharpness of the back bone, hip pomts and pin 
bones the thin, incurving thighs and the clean, fine shanks in this 
cow are indications of extreme dairy temperament. 



Fat losses in skim-milk make dairying un- 
profitable. One of the reasons why dairying, 
before the invention of the Babcock test and the 
centrifugal separator, was unprofitable was be- 
cause of the large losses of butter fat in the skim- 
milk when separated by the gravity process. 
No matter how careful the dairyman may be to 



74 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

secure a proper temperature — the one most favor- 
able to good separation by the gravity process — 
the skim-milk losses are very heavy. 

Losses by gravity method. With the shallow 
pan method the losses vary with the conditions 
to which the milk is subjected. However, the 
skim-milk with this method of separation will 
rarely test less than five-tenths of one per cent. 
The deep setting method of cream separation 
was the best devised up to the time of the intro- 
duction of the centrifugal separator. In this 
method the milk after milking was immediately 
placed into long cylindrical cans, commonly 
called ^^ shot-gun^' cans. These were placed in 
cold water, preferably ice water. With this 
method the losses in the skim-milk were reduced 
to about two-tenths of one per cent. However, 
if the setting of the milk was delayed or the 
water was not cold, the increase in the loss of 
fat in the skim-milk was much greater. 

Dilution causes large losses. Dilution methods 
of separation are likewise to be condemned as 
extravagant and wasteful. 

A few years ago dilution methods and appli- 
ances were on the ^^boom," but fortunately this 
*^boom*' was of short duration. Cornell and 
many of the other experiment stations investi- 
gated the dilution methods and compared them 
with the old-fashioned gravity methods. The 



CREAM SEPARATION 75 

average fat content of the skim-milk by the dilu- 
tion process was found to be from six-tenths to 
one and two-tenths per cent fat. This is from 
one-fifth to one-third of the entire fat content 
of the whole milk. At the Kansas station still 
greater losses were found to exist. 

A comparison of losses by various methods. 
The Indiana Experiment Station, after exhaust- 
ive experiments, published in a recent bulletin 
a summary of their findings showing the losses 
in the skim-milk under the most favorable con- 
ditions by the various methods to be as follows: 



Hand separator method 02 per cent 

Deep setting method 17 per cent 

Shallow pan method 44 per cent 

Water dilution method 68 per cent 



The following table shows the amount of fat 
lost in the skim-milk under average conditions: 







Water 


Shallow 


Deep 


Hand 






Dilution 


Pan 


Setting 


Separator 


. Cows 


Lbs. Milk 


Lbs. Fat 


Lbs. Fat 


Lbs. Fat 


Lbs. Fat 


1 


6,000 


29.07 


25.5 


17.34 


2.75 


5 


30,000 


145.35 


127.5 


86.70 


13.75 


10 


60,000 


290.70 


255 


173.40 


27.50 


15 


90,000 


436.05 


382.5 


260.10 


41.25 


20 


120,000 


581.40 


510 


346.80 


55 



Compute the loss at the low rate of 25 cents 
per pound of fat. 

The bulletin referred to uses the following 
graphic illustration to show the butter lost in 



76 



PROFITABLE DAIRYING 



the skim-milk from one cow in one year by the 
various methods of separation. 



Hand 
Sepa- 
rator. 
Loss of 
Butter 
1.2 lbs. 



Deep Setting-. 

Loss of butter 

10.1 lbs. 



Shallow Pan. 

Loss of butter 

26.2 lbs. 



Fig. 22. 



r 








r 








r^ 


1 




1 1 i i 




^L_i._i j:\.li j ..._ 










pi ^ 1 1 1 ■■ 


HpHHHHppi^^ ' 






--JL 










"'.':?::>:.::H 


^^^^P . Jiiiii^M m 
















■ *i'H 


^^m iifiiiii^-' 






■ss 










: „i^ 


P^« { M«:t 


, 




1 


1 








:1^BI 





Water Dilution. 

Loss of butter 

40.5 lbs. 



•Comparison of fat losses by various methods of separation. 



EXERCISES 



1. What effect on the feeding value of the skim- 
milk will the dilution method of cream separation 
have? 

2. "Will Jersey milk separate by the gravity method 
better than Holstein milk? Why? 

3. Will the milk of one breed separate better with 
a centrifugal separator than the milk of another breed ? 

4. What would be the loss in the fat of the skim- 
milk from a herd of ten cows by each of the methods 
described in this chapter, assuming butter to be worth 
thirty cents a pound? 

5. What method of separation is used on your 
farm? 

6. Do you test your whole milk? Your skim-milk? 

7. Do you know whether you are losing fat in your 
skim-milk or not and how much? 



CREAM SEPARATION 77 

LABORATORY PROBLEMS 

XL To Determine the Per Cent of Fat in Cream 

a. Carefully weigh 18 grams of cream into a 30 
per cent cream test bottle. 

b. Add about the normal amount of sulphuric acid 
(17.5 c.c). 

c. Test as in the case of whole milk; that is, whirl 
three times and fill twice. 

d. Place in a water bath having a temperature of 
120 to 140 degrees. 

e. Before reading add a few drops of white min- 
eral oil or colored denatured alcohol. Care must be 
exercised to prevent the oil from mixing with the fat 
column. This can best be accomplished by allowing 
the oil to run slowly down the side of the neck. 

LABORATORY PROBLEMS 

XII. To Determine the Richness of Cream by Use of 50 Per 
Cent 9-Gram Bottle 

In many states the 50 per cent 9-gram bottle is 
used instead of the 18-gram 30 per cent bottle. This 
means that 9 grams are used as a charge. 

a. Weigh out 9 grams of cream into bottle. 

b. Add about 9 c.c. of clear water. Mix. 

c. Add normal amount of sulphuric acid (17.5 c.c). 

d. Test as in the case of milk. Place in water bath 
and then read, using white mineral oil or colored 
denatured alcohol to level the meniscus. 

e. In case a 9-gram bottle is used the reading is 
direct, as the bottle is calibrated to read direct. In 
case an 18-gram bottle is used, then the reading must 
be multiplied by 2, because 9 grams is only half a 
charge. 



CHAPTER VITI 

THE FARM SEPAEATOR 

Use of farm separators widespread. When sep- 
arators were first introduced they were built for 
factory purposes. They were large machines 
capable of separating the cream from two or 
three thousand pounds of milk per hour. The 

cost and the incon- 
venience of gather- 
ing the milk at the 
** whole milk*' 
creameries were in 
very many cases so 
great that most of 
them have been 
forced to abandon 
their power sepa- 
rators. At the pres- 
ent time we find 
very few creameries 
still receiving whole 
milk. Instead, small 
separators have 
such decided advan- 




Pig. 23. A farm separator. 



78 



THE FARM SEPARATOR 



79 



tages that, in sections of the country where dairy- 
ing is carried on extensively, they are found on 
practically every farm, even though the farmer 
may have only a very few cows. Hence a word 
about the principles upon which their operation is 
based and some general directions for their care 
and use may not be out of place here. 



SKIM MILK OUTCET 



CREAM OUTLET 

SKIM-MILK Outlet 




Fig. 24. Vertical section view showing interior of cream separator. 

The principle of centrifugal separation. As 

was stated in the preceding chapter, their oper- 
ation depends on centrifugal force. The old- 
fashioned ^^ sling-shot'' serves to illustrate this 



80 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

principle. In tliis plaything a stone is placed in 
a little hole cut in a piece of leather to which 
are attached two strings. The ^'sliof is then 
whirled rapidly around the head and one of the 
strings suddenly loosened, when the stone flies otf 
in a straight line. The boy who is able to whirl 
his sling-shot with the greatest speed succeeds 
in throwing the farthest; that is, he gives it the 
greatest force. Now, in the cream separator the 
builders have figured out just how rapidly the 
bowls must rotate in order to throw all the skim- 
milk to the outside and force the fat globules 
to the center. The separator must, therefore, be 
kept up to this calculated speed if the separation 
is to be complete. This speed is usually plainly 
marked on the machine and the operator should 
see to it that the indicated speed is maintained. 
The effect of temperature in separation. An- 
other condition which affects the completeness 
of the separation is temperature. The best 
machines will not do close work on cold milk. 
The most favorable temperature for the farmer 
to use is from 90 degrees F to 100 degrees F., or 
the temperature of milk when it is first drawn 
from the cow. In no case should the milk be 
allowed to cool or the cream to rise before sep- 
aration. If the milk is cold the fat losses are 
large and the machine is easily clogged. If the 
cream has risen it may be churned in the machine 



THE FARM SEPARATOR 



81 



and the small granules of butter will be lost. It 
is a good practice to run a quart of warm water 
through the machine or warm it up before the 
milk is put into it. 

Milk must be fed into bowl at a 
uniform rate. A third point that 
should be observed if satisfactory 
results are to be obtained is the 
uniformity with which the milk is 
introduced into the bowl. An even 
feed will do much to ensure an even 
cream test, all other conditions re- 
maining the same. 

Machine must be kept clean. To 
secure the best results and the 
cleanest and most nearly perfect 
cream, it is best to wash the sepa- 
rator each time after it is used. 
The slime should be removed, and 
the parts thoroughly scalded to de- 
stroy the germs which are certain 
to be present. These germs are 
found in large quantities in the 
bowl and if not destroyed by heat 
may cause serious damage to the 
cream. The separator should be 
washed twice daily, and it should 
be thoroughly scalded and dried in the sun. Heat 
and sunlight are death to germ life. 



Fig. 25. A 
thermometer. A 
valuable piece 
of apparatus for 
the farm dairy. 



82 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

Necessity for oiling. All bearings should be 
kept thoroughly piled with the best separator 
oil. It is poor economy indeed to spoil a good 
machine by using poor oil. Some separators 
that are still doing work are known to have 
been in constant use for fifteen years. This is 
because the machines have been well cared for. 

Vibration. The machine must be placed in a 
vertical position on a solid foundation and 
securely fastened, so as to prevent all vibration. 
Heavy losses are occasioned by an unbalanced 
bowl or any other source of vibration. 

EXERCISES 

1. Why can milk be separated at a temperature of 
80° to 90° P. with less loss in the skim-milk than when 
it is separated at 60° to 70° FJ 

2. Why wash the dishes in the home after each meal 
and wash a farm separator only once a day? 

3. Why should the separator parts be left to air 
in the sun? 

4. Why is it important to maintain the proper 
speed Avhen separating milk ? 

5. What is the difference in composition between 
milk and cream? 

6. What is the legal standard in your state for 
cream, milk, skim-milk? 



THE FARM SEPARATOR 83 

LABORATORY PROBLEMS 

XIII. To Study the Principles of the Centrifugal Cream 
Separator 

1. Study the various parts of the separator and 
learn how to assemble them. Care must be exercised 
to see that the various parts are not damaged by drop- 
ping them or by jamming the parts together. 

2. Oil the bearings well with good hand separator 
oil. 

3. Determine the speed of the separator bowl per 
minute. This can easily be done by counting the revo- 
lutions of the bowl while the operator slowly turns the 
handle one complete revolution. Then multiply the 
number obtained by the number of revolutions made 
by the handle per minute. 

4. Slowly bring the separator up to the proper 
speed, which is usually indicated on the handle. When 
.at about one-fourth speed fill the bowl with lukewarm 
water. The object of this is to see if the bowl leaks. 
If it does, stop at once and locate the trouble. 

5. If the milk to be used for this experiment is 
cold, warm it to a temperature of about 85 degrees. 
Stir well, weigh and place in milk container on the 
separator. 

6. When all the foregoing observations have been 
made and precautions have been taken, carefully bring 
the separator bowl to full speed and slowly open the 
feed valve so that the rate of inflow is normal. There 
is usually a float to regulate this important matter. 
The exact time of starting the flow of milk should 
be observed and recorded. 

7. Continue to separate the milk, being very care- 
ful to see that the correct speed is maintained. This 



84 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

must not be a matter of *^ guess work," but should be 
observed carefully by means of a watch. When the 
milk has all been separated, the exact time should be 
again observed and recorded. Knowing the weight of 
the milk and the length of time taken to separate it, 
it is a matter of easy computation to determine the 
capacity of the separator per hour. 

8. When all the milk has been separated, and while 
the bowl is still in motion, it is well to flush the bowl 
at once with either warm skim-milk or with a quart or 
two of lukewarm water. This is necessary, as other- 
wise there will be a large quantity of valuable cream 
remaining in the separator. In flushing the bowl the 
skim-milk or water should be poured into it as fast as 
the bowl will take it. 

9. The separator bowl and tinware should be 
washed soon after they are used. The bowl should be 
taken apart and each part carefully cleaned, using 
lukewarm water. The different parts (except the rub- 
ber ring) should be scalded with hot water and allowed 
to dry in a clean, dry place, preferably in the sun- 
shine. The bowl should not be put together until 
time to be used again. 

10. The following observations should be made by 
the students : 



Name of student Date 

Name of separator Number . . 

Rev. of handle per min Speed of bowl per min 

Lbs. of milk separated Time required 

Capacity of machine per hour 

Pounds of milk separated 

Test of milk 

Pounds of fat in milk 



TllE FARM SEPARATOR 85 

Pounds of cream 

Test of cream 

Pounds of fat in cream 

Pounds of skim-milk 

Test of skim-milk 

Pounds of fat lost in skim-milk 

Pounds of cream per 100 pounds of milk 

Note: Other exercises may be developed by the instructor 
to show the losses of fat in the skim-niilk and the richness of 
the cream. 

(a) When cold milk is separated instead of warm milk. 

(b) When the speed of the separator is below normal.* 

(c) When the separator is operated at only one-half capac- 

ity, or when "crowded to overcapacity."* 

(d) When the cream screw is adjusted to get a richer or 

a thinner cream. 



*No separator should be run faster than recommended by 
the manufacturer. 



CHAPTER IX 
VALUE OF SKIM-MILK 

One lias only to consider the composition of 
milk to know that there are over nine pounds of 
the very best food solids, all easily digestible, 
left in every hundred pounds of milk after the 
fat has been removed. 

Skim-milk an excellent feed. When the milk 
is separated from the cream, either at the farm 
or at the factory, the farmer has, as a by-product 
of dairying, a quantity of skim-milk which is one 
of the very best of feeds for calves, pigs, and 
even chickens, ducks, and geese. In some local- 
ities there is a strong prejudice against the intro- 
duction of the centrifugal separator on the 
ground that the skim-milk is spoiled for feed. 
This prejudice is wholly unfounded and clearly 
disproven by the experience of both dairymen 
and investigators. None of the food substances 
are removed from the milk except the fat, and 
this fat can easily be supplied by a much cheaper 
substitute. 

How skim-milk may be improved for feeding. 
Butter fat is worth, say, 30 cents per pound. 

86 



CARE OP MILK AND CREAM 87 

Two or three cents' worth of oil meal will fur- 
nish as much food matter as a pound of butter 
fat. Then all that the dairyman has to do is to 
add a few pounds of oil meal to each one hun- 
dred pounds of skim-milk and its feeding value 
is just as great as new or whole milk. "When 
the milk is separated on the farm this skim- 
milk may be fed warm and sweet soon after 
it is drawn from the cow, and if oil meal, bran, 
middlings, gluten feed, or some other cheap 
feed rich in oil and protein is added to it in 
proper proportions, it is fully the equal of whole 
milk as a feeding stuff. Experiments with hand- 
fed calves carried on at the Kansas Experiment 
Station have conclusively demonstrated this fact. 
Good ^^baby beef was made with separator 
skim-milk as a foundation feed, and the calves 
so fed made greater gains at a less cost than 
those fed on whole milk. The same results were 
obtained at the Iowa station. 

Skim-milk necessary for pork production. 
Skim-milk is especially valuable in hog raising, 
and it should form the basis of food for these 
animals on every dairy farm. Some farmers 
believe that the best and cheapest pork is made 
from corn alone with nothing but water to drink. 
Here again experimenters have proven that this 
is not the case. On the contary, pork produced 
from this diet is much more expensive than that 



88 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

produced from any kind of mixed feeds. But 
the largest profit in hog raising comes from 
young pork six or seven months old. The first 
one hundred pounds of pork is always the cheap- 
est to produce, the second hundred pounds is a 
little more costly, and so on until after the hog 
is a year old and has been well fed up to this 
time, the feed necessary to produce a pound of 
pork is actually worth more than the pork pro- 
duced. The farmer, then, makes the most money 
on pig-pork, and pig-pork cannot be produced 
to advantage without milk. Skim-milk mixed 
with ground corn, ground oats, bran, oil meal, 
middlings, or gluten feed, and supplemented 
during the fattening period with a liberal allow- 
ance of corn, makes the very best and cheap- 
est pork. 

A great dairyman's experience in feeding 
skim-milk. Former Governor Hoard, one of the 
great pioneers in dairying, once said: 

''Put this statement to the fore: That for 
the past ten years no milk shipper or condensory 
has paid for milk what the cream is worth at 
the creamery for butter making, and the skim- 
milk is worth on the farm in the raising of good 
live stock. That any farmer if he will be intel- 
ligent can in a ten-year trial make more clean 
money by keeping the skim-milk on the farm, 
raising well-bred heifers and cows for sale, than 



CARE OF MILK AND CREAM §9 

in any other form of dairying. If the creamery 
does not see what it has to do with this prob- 
lem, then it is not big enough for its place. 
Stop fighting the farm separator and go to work 
to teach the farmer better how to deal with the 
milk and cream at the farm end. Eemember 
that the farm separator and calf and pig raising 
is the main defense of the creamery against the 
competition of milk shipping and condensing. 

*^Now a word, if you please, as to the real 
money value of good skim-milk for calf and 
pig raising. Of course, much depends on the 
kind of calves and pigs one raises and so does 
the price you get for butter depend on the kind 
of butter you make and sell." 

An experiment in calf raising. ^'Here is an 
experiment of my own calf raising. I took ten 
grade Guernsey heifer calves, such as any ordi- 
nary farmer can produce, part of them bought 
right after birth of neighbors. I kept them till 
they were ten months old and sold them for $25 
apiece. That is not a big price for fine heifer 
calves of desirable blood. I fed each of those 
calves a dollar's worth of oats; alfalfa hay to 
the amount of $1.50, and 50 cents worth of blood 
meal. That made $3.00. I allowed $3.00 for 
tlie carcass. That made a total of $6.00, leav- 
ing $19.00 to be credited to the 3,000 pounds 
of skim-milk each consumed. Understand, I 



90 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

charged the calf with the market value of the 
other food it consumed; the balance went to the 
skim-milk because it was the skim-milk that 
made all the rest available. Figuring that way, 
the skim-milk returned 63 cents a hundred. The 
butter fat in the milk averaged at that time, if 
I remember correctly, $1.50 per 100 pounds of 
milk. That made the whole milk worth in cash 
to me $2.13 per hundred pounds. Do you won- 
der that I say no milk shipper or condensory 
would pay me what my milk is worth even in 
raising nothing better than grade heifer calves! 
The skim-milk is worth over $3.00 a hundred 
when fed to pure-bred calves.'' 

Skim-milk for pig feeding. ''It is well estab- 
lished that 100 pounds of skim-milk will make 
five pounds of growth when fed alone to pigs 
weighing from 75 to 150 pounds. Multiply this 
growth by the price of pork and you have the 
minimum value of the skim-milk. Feed it in 
conjunction with corn meal and you add 20 per 
cent to its value or cash return, all as a result 
of the combination. These are well settled 
principles of feeding. Yet, how few farmers 
really and truly know and practice them."* 

EXERCISES 
1. According to the standards given, what is the 
value of skim-milk in your vicinity? 



*These values increase with advance in prices. 



CARE OF MILK AND CREAM 91 

2. Can you feed sour milk to calves "? 

3. What causes milk to sour? 

4. What is *'baby beef"?'* What do wc mean by 
the term *' milk-fed" chickens? 

5. Do farmers as a rule raise their own cows in a 
* ' condensary ' ' community ? 

LABORATORY PROBLEMS 
XIV. To Make Cottage Cheese from Skim-Milk 

An excellent food may be easily made from skim- 
milk as follows : 

1. Obtain a quantity of clean, well-flavored, sweet 
skim-milk and add about a pint of good, clean-smell- 
ing, sour milk. 

2. Heat to about 90 to 95 degrees and allow it to 
sour and thicken but not whey off; this will take 
about twenty-four hours. 

3. Break up gently with a large spoon. Keep the 
curd in large, coarse pieces. 

4. Heat to 110 degrees by hanging the bucket in 
warm water; stir gently w^hile heating. 

5. After half an hour or more, depending on how 
finely the curd was broken up, it settles rapidly and 
will be quite firm. Without stirring, tip the pail and 
draw as much w^hey as possible. Fill the pail up with 
clean, cold water and stir the curd until cooled. 

6. Put the curd in a cold vat to drain for about 
half an hour. 

7. When dry stir in one ounce of salt to five pounds 
of curd. 

Note: Some prefer to add a small amount of cream to the 
finished cheese. This, of course, adds to the cost. As a rule 
people who care for it add a small amount of cream to the 
cottage cheese just before serving. 



92 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

LABORATORY PROBLEMS 
XV. To Determine the Acidity of Milk 

Prepare a standard tablet solution by dissolving 5 
Farrington alkali tablets in 97 c.c. of clean, soft water. 
The water may be condensed steam or pure rain water. 
The tablets can be purchased in boxes containing 1,000 
each from any dairy supply house. If kept dry and 
away from the air, they will not lose strength. The 
solution as prepared above is so standardized that one 
cubic centimeter will neutralize one one-hundredths 
per cent acidity if a 17.6 c.c. of milk is used as a sample. 
The solution should be prepared several hours in 
advance to allow the tablets to dissolve. The small 
residue which does not dissolve is inert matter and 
does not interfere with the test. After the tablets 
have been dissolved the solution will not lose its 
strength for several weeks. It is well, however, not to 
mix up too much at a time and to keep the bottle well 
corked. No indicator is necessary, because an indi- 
cator has been incorporated in the tablets. For prac- 
tical purposes a 100 c.c. graduated cylinder, a 17.6 c.c. 
pipette and a white china cup comprise the apparatus 
necessary to determine the acidity of milk and cream. 

Determine the acidity of milk, cream, etc., by the 
following method : 

1. Using a 17.6 c.c. pipette, transfer a pipetteful of 
the sample to be tested for acidity to a white china cup. 

2. From a graduated cylinder add sufficient tablet 
solution to color the mixture a faintly permanent pink. 
It is well to give the cup a rotary motion while adding 
the solution. Some prefer to use a glass stirring rod 
to mix the solution with the sample. 



CARE OF MILK AND CREAM 93 

3. The number of cubic centimeters of solution re- 
quired to give a permanent pink color will indicate 
the number of hundredths per cent acidity. For 
example, if it requires 18 cubic centimeters of the 
solution to color the mixture a faint pink, then the 
sample tested has an acidity of eighteen-hundredths 
of 1 per cent. 



CHAPTER X 
CAEE OF UTENSILS 

What kind of utensils to use. Tinware is un- 
doubtedly the most satisfactory material for 
dairy utensils. "Wooden vessels are very objec- 
tionable, because the pores of the wood absorb 
the milk and soon become clogged with impur- 
ities. In purchasing vessels only those that are 
durable and well covered with tin should be 
selected. The corners should be flushed with 
solder so that the milk will not find hiding places, 
thus affording an opportunity for the growth of 
germs. All utensils should be washed with a 
brush, as a brush is far more sanitary than a 
dish cloth, which will soon become insanitary in 
spite of the efforts made to keep it clean. Greasy 
soap powders should be avoided. There are 
many kinds of soap powder on the market that 
will dissolve dirt and grease and still remain 
sanitary. If nothing better can be obtained 
either sal soda or borax may be used. One of 
the best purifying agencies that the dairyman 
has is the sunlight. After the vessels are washed 
they should be exposed to the sunshine and air, 

94 



CARE OF UTENSILS 95 

away from the dust, and so placed that they will 
drain well. 

How to wash utensils. In washing utensils 
they should first be rinsed with cold water to 
remove the milk; then washed with lukewarm 




Hand brush for tinware. Bottle brush. 

Fig. 26. 
For properly cleaning milk utensils good brushes are essential. 

water, and finally scalded or steamed. If this 
method is followed it is very easy to wash the 
separator. Many dairymen make the mistake 
of flushing the separator with scalding hot water. 
This will have a tendency to cook on the im- 
purities, and about the only way that they can 
then be removed is to scrape them off with a 
knife. If the separator is flushed, however, with 
lukewarm water, and then taken apart and 
cleaned at once, it is not a difficult task. It is 
needless to add that the separator should be 
washed each time it is used. 

Wash separator twice daily. If the separator 
is allowed to stand without being washed, the 
impurities will dry on so that it will take con- 
siderable time and labor to wash it thoroughly. 
It is labor actually saved to wash the separator 



96 



PROFITABLE DAIRYING 



twice a day, and only the separator that receives 

such care is in sanitary condition for future use. 

It is time and money saved to wash all tinware 

carefully each time it is used. If this is not 




Fig. 27. Be thorough in cleaning separator. 
To produce clean cream, the parts of a separator should be care- 
fully washed with warm water each time, use a brush and cleans- 
ing powder, then scald with boiling water and spread tinware to 
dry in the sun. 

done with the separator the interior of the bowl 
soon becomes rusty and small particles of curd 
will dry on certain parts of it, throwing it out 
of perfect balance, and the result will be large 
losses in the skim-milk. There is no reason why 
good tinware properly cared for should not last 



CARE OF UTENSILS 



97 



for many years. Neglect and misuse are the 
chief causes for dairy utensils getting out of 
proper condition. 



EXERCISES 

1. Why should a dish rag not be tol- 
erated in a dairy? 

2. How can you prove that sunlight 
will prevent bacterial growth? 

8. Why not use wooden pails in pref- 
erence to tin pails? 

4. Would you like to use the cream 
from a separator washed only once a 
day? 

LABORATORY PROBLEMS 

XVI. To Determine the Per Cent of Solids 

AND Solids Not Fat in Milk by Means 

of a Quevenne Lactometer 

It is very essential when testing for 
fat, or when making any lactometer 
determination, to have the sample thor- 
oughly mixed. The lactometer is stand- 
ardized at a temperature of 60° F., and 
therefore the milk should be near that 
temperature. The milk should be poured 
into a tin cylinder, so that it will over- 
flow when the lactometer is inserted. To 
prevent waste, the cylinder can be placed 
in a small dish before inserting the lac- 
tometer. Allow the lactometer to be- 
come stationary and read at once. 
Observe the temperature and correct the 
lactometer, reading by adding one-tenth 



Fig-. 28. Que- 
venne lactomet- 
er. The "dairy 
detective." I t 
will show 
whether milk 
has been wat- 
ered or skimmed, 
if nsed in con- 
nection with 
the fat test. 



98 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

lactometer degree for each degree F. that the milk is 
above 60 degrees, and subtract one-tenth for each degree 
it is below 60 degrees. Having taken your lactometer 
reading and having made the proper corrections of tem- 
perature, determine the solids not fat and the total solids 
by aid of the following formula: (It will be seen that 
it is necessary that the per cent of fat in the milk be 
known. ) 

Solids not fat = i/4 I^ac. R. + .2 fat 
Total solids z= i^ Lac. R. -f- 1-2 fat 

To illustrate : If the lactometer reading is 32.0 at 
56° F., and the milk tests 4.0 per cent fat, we deter- 
mine the solids not fat as follows : 

32.0 — .4 — 31.6 
i/t of 31.6 = 7.9 
.2 of 4.00 z=r .8 
7.9 + .8 = 8.7 =z S. N. F. in sample. 

Having carefully studied the above, get several 
samples of normal milk and determine the per cents 
of solids and solids not fat in the same. 

Normal milk will have a lactometer reading vary- 
ing from 29.0 to 33.0. 

XVII. To Determine the Effect of Skimming Milk on the 
Lactometer Reading and on the Fat Content 

1. Determine the lactometer reading and the fat 
content of a quantity of milk. 

2. Set aside two pint jars full of milk. 

3. Skim the cream from one of the jars after it has 
stood for an hour. Take the lactometer reading and 
the fat content of the milk. 



CARE OP UTENSILS 



99 



4. Skim the cream from the other jar after it has 
stood for about two hours. Also take the lactometer 
reading and the fat content. 

5. Determine the fat content and the lactometer 
reading of the skim-milk after all the fat has been 
removed. 

6. Compare results obtained and note if there is 
any relatio-n between the fat content and the lacto- 
meter reading. 

Since 1905 the world's yearly records for fat 
production have been held successively by the 
following cows: 



Lbs. Lbs. 

Year Name State Breed Milk Fat 

1905 Teksa Sunbeam Wis. Guernsey 14,920.8 857.15 

1907 Colantha 4th's Johanna Wis. Holstein 27,432.5 998.26 

1911 PontiacClothildeDeKolII N. Y. Holstein 25,318.0 1,017.28 

1912 Banostine Belle De Kol Ohio Holstein 27,404.4 1,058.34 

1914 May Rilma Pa. Guernsey 19,673.0 1,073.41 

1915 Murne Cowan Ohio Guernsey 24,008.0 1,098.18 
1915 Finderne Holingen Fayne N.J. Holstein 24,612.8 1,116.05 
1915 Finderne Pride Johanna Rue N. J. Holstein 28,403.7 1,176.47 
1915 Duchess Skylark Ormsby Minn. Holstein 27,361.7 1,205.09 



CHAPTER XI 
CAEE OF MILK AND CREAM 

Pure milk germ free. Milk, as it is secreted 
in the cells of the udder, is germ free. If it were 
possible to get the im\k in this condition into 
germ-free receptacles, and if it could then be kept 
free from contamination, it would keep indefi- 
nitely. But this is impossible. A few germs 
always work their way up into the cavities of 
the cistern above the teat, and, owing to the 
favorable conditions existing there, multiply enor- 
mously. If this first milk, or foremilk, as it is 
called, is milked into the bucket, the practice 
of a good many milkers, we can see at once that 
contamxination is introduced at the very begin- 
ning of the milking process. It is advisable to 
draw this foremilk on the ground; there is really 
very little loss, as it is not very rich in fat. 

Some sanitary precautions. The problem of 
the dairyman is to keep the milk from being 
contaminated either by dirt entering into it or 
by its absorbing undesirable odors. It should be 
unnecessary to state that the stables should be 
clean, dry and well-ventilated; the health of the 

100 



CARE OF MILK AND CREAM 



101 



animals demands it. In Denmark it is customary 
to whitewash the stables four times each year; 
experience having shown this to be a very profit- 
able practice. Whitewash is odorless and very 
cheap, and it is to be regretted that dairymen in 
general do not use it more freely. There should 
be no cesspools about the stables, and the ground 
under the barn should be well drained. Poor 
drainage causes objectionable odors about the 
barn. 




Fig. 29. Sediment test for determining cleanliness of milk. 



Feeding after milking. One of the practices 
a good dairyman will observe is to do his feed- 
ing after milking, so that the atmosphere will 
not be filled with dust. He will also feed his 
cows such feeds as ensilage after milking rather 



102 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 



than before or during milking time, because the 
odor of these foods taints the milk. 

Keeping cows and udders clean. The udder 
and flanks should be wiped with a damp cloth 
immediately before milking, so that dust and 
dirt will not be constantly falling into the milk 
pail. It has been demonstrated that twenty 
times as much dirt falls into the bucket when 
the udder is in a soiled condition as when it is 
wiped with a damp cloth, and one hundred times 
as much when the udder is dirty as when it has 
been kept clean. 

Milk a food product. Cows should have ample 
bedding, but this bedding should not be dis- 
turbed immediately before milking, since such a 
practice will cause the air to be filled with small 
particles of dust, a large number of which will 
find their way into the milk pail. 

The dairyman should always bear in mind that 
in handling milk he is dealing with a food 
product. Therefore, if any of his cows are 
diseased or in ill health, or give gargety milk 
or bloody milk, this milk should not be used 
for human consumption. Colostrum milk, or the 
milk which a cow secretes immediately after 
calving, should not, of course, be used for four 
or five days, or until the milk has become nor- 
mal; nor should cow's milk be used for the 
thirty days immediately before calving. 



CARE OF MILK AND CREAM 103 

The use of covered pails. Taking everything 
in consideration, probably the best form of pail 
that a dairyman can use is the covered one, as 
such a pail excludes practically all dirt. It has 
already been mentioned that a dairyman is deal- 
ing with a food product; hence the advisability 
of providing a clean place in the barn where the 
milk may be kept during the time of milking. 




Fig. 30. 

A cow that has been well groomed — one of the essentials in 

the production of clean milk. 

Straining and aerating. The milk should be 
strained as soon as possible through several 
thicknesses of cheesecloth. It is advised by some 
that milk be aerated to remove animal heat and 



104 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

the odors absorbed from certain feeds. Altliougli 
much may be said in favor of this practice, 
great care must be exerc^ised in aerating milk. 
If a farmer is in doubt whether to aerate his 
milk or to cool it, cooling is advised for the 
reason that simply aerating milk will not reduce 
its temperature sufficiently. Aerating must be 
done in a very cleanly, sweet-smelling place, 
otherwise, during this process, the milk will 
absorb undesirable odors. In case the milk is 
not separated it should be cooled down at once, 
and this can only be done by placing the cans 
in cold water and stirring the milk frequently 
until cold. It is not advisable, of course, to 
cover the cans tightly, because milk will have a 
better flavor if some of its natural odors are 
allowed to escape. It is poor practice to pour 
warm and cold milk together for the purpose 
of cooling the warm milk. This should never 
be done. In case a hand separator is used it is 
not necessary to cool at once, because the sep- 
arator will do better work when the milk is at 
the temperature it has when drawn from the cow. 
The farm separator. The farm separator is 
becoming very popular. The advantages in using 
one of these machines, such as the increased 
value of the fresh skim-milk and the amount of 
labor saved in hauling to the factory, are well 
known. However, many farmers neglect to take 



CARE OF MILK AND CREAM 105 

proper care of this cream and in this way bring 
the farm separator into disrepute. 

The separator should not be j^hiced in the 
barn. A suitable milk house will prove as profit- 
able to a farmer as a suitable granary. 

Caring for cream. Cream should be cooled 
down at once to prevent its souring. It should 




Fig. 31. Cream cooling tank. 

be placed where the air is pure and where it 
will not absorb undesirable odors. It should 
be delivered to the factory at least every other 
day, and during the time that it is under the 
farmer's care it should be stirred occasionally. 



106 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

Many believe that it is uiiiiecessary to cool the 
cream, inasmuch as the butter maker will have 
to sour it anyway. It must be remembered that 
he should have control of the ripening process 
in order to make a uniform product from day 
to day. Even if the cream does not become 
sour, it ought not to stand longer than forty- 
eight hours, for the reason that many organisms 
develop in cream held at a low temperature and, 
unfortunately, such organisms have the property 
of imparting a very bitter flavor to the cream, 
which in turn is transmitted to the butter. 
Cream should be delivered to the factory sweet 
and clean if we expect the butter maker to pro- 
duce and place on the market an article that will 
bring the highest market price. 

Other sources of contamination. There are 
other sources of contamination that should be 
guarded against. One of these is uncleanly 
habits on the part of the milker. It is desirable 
that he be attired in clean overalls and jacket; 
these need not be expensive and can be slipped 
on just before milking. The hands of the milker 
should be washed clean and thoroughly dried 
before he begins his work. It is understood by 
all practical dairymen that a cow should be 
milked with ^^dry" and not with wet hands. 
Many have acquired the habit of milking ^'wet,^' 
as it is usually termed, and it may be hard for 



CARE OF MILK AND CREAM 107 

them to reform, but if they will observe the 
filthiness of this practice they will recognize 
it as a great source of contamination. 

EXERCISES 

1. How many bacteria are there in a cubic centi- 
meter of ordinary milk twenty-four hours old? 

2. Are these bacteria larger or smaller than the 
fat globules? 

3. How do bacteria get into the milk? 

4. Why not keep the bacteria out by straining the 
milk through very fine absorbent cotton? 

5. Will milk sour if kept at a temperature of 45° F. ? 

6. What causes some milk to be ''ropey"? 

7. Is colostrum milk poisonous ? 

8. Why do we have more bitter milk in the winter 
time than in the summer time? 

LABORATORY PROBLEMS 

XVIII. To Determine the Influence of Adding Water to 
Milk on the Lactometer Reading and Fat Content 

1. Take a quart of milk and determine the lacto- 
meter reading and fat content of the same. 

2. Add varying quantities of water, for example, 
10 c.c, 20 c.c, 40 c.c, per 100 c.c. of milk and mix 
well. Determine the lactometer reading and fat con- 
tent in each case. 

3. Compare results obtained with those obtained 
under 1. 

LABORATORY PROBLEMS 

XIX. To Determine the Purity of Milk by Means of the 

Fermentation Test 

1. Carefully wash with cleaning powder and hot 



108 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

water six test tubes and rinse them thoroughly with 
boiling hot water. 

2. Stopper with clean absorbent cotton. 

3. Place the stoppered test tubes in a hot oven for 
some time to sterilize them. 

4. Fill two test tubes two-thirds full with samples 
of milk known to have been milked in a cleanly way. 
Likewise fill two tubes with milk milked in the ordi- 
nary way. Fill two others with milk into whicii,: hairs, 
dirt, etc., were allowed to enter. 

5. Place these samples in a water bath at a tem- 
perature of 98 to 100 degrees F., and make notation 
at the end of each four-hour period. Note particularly 
whether the curd is firm and solid, or broken up, 
wheyed off and gassy. 



CHAPTER XII 

DISPOSING OF MILK AND CREAM 

City milk supply. Assuming that a dairyman 
has a herd producing a good flow of milk, the 
question naturally arises, what shall he do with 
this milk in order to have it yield him the larg- 
est net returns? The answer can only be given 
by the dairyman himself after careful study of 
the local situation. In certain localities it may 
be advisable to handle milk in a way different 
from that in other localities. Local conditions 
necessarily govern the methods of the disposal 
of milk. If a dairyman is situated in close prox- 
imity to a city where the consumption of whole 
milk is very large, it may be advisable for him 
either to wholesale his product directly to a 
milk dealer, or to have a private trade of his 
own to which he can deliver the same. In the 
latter case the necessary additional investment 
in horses, wagons, and other equipment, must be 
considered. In selling whole milk it must be 
remembered that nothing is left on the farm in 
the shape of skim-milk. While the returns from 
selling milk in this way may appear large, 

109 



110 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

two things must be borne in mind, viz., the 
cost of delivery and the loss of the skim-milk. 
The reader is referred to a later chapter, entitled 
The Eelation of Dairying to the Soil, which 
calls attention to the loss to the soil by removal 
of fertility when selling whole milk off the farm. 

Selling to a cheese factory. Of course, if the 
farmer is located eight or ten miles from a city, 
such a method will be out of the question. He 
may then be compelled to sell his milk to a cheese 
factory, and in this case return to the farm 
about ninety pounds of whey for every one hun- 
dred pounds of milk delivered. The quality of 
whey varies greatly, depending upon the care 
it receives at the factory. Its food value is 
only about half as much as that of skim-milk, 
because all of the casein has been removed from 
the milk in the process of cheese making. 

Hauling to a creamery. Or the dairy farmer 
may have an opportunity to sell his milk to a 
whole milk creamery, where practically eighty 
pounds of skim-milk are returned to him for 
every one hundred pounds of milk delivered. 
Whether to sell to a creamery rather than to a 
cheese factory, or vice versa, depends entirely 
upon local conditions. However, he must not 
lose sight of the fact that the skim-milk returned 
is of more value to him than the whey, if he 
can make use of either for feeding purposes. 



DISPOSING OF MILK AND CREAM m 

Selling cream. One of the most profitable 
methods in many localities is the sale of milk 
in the shape of cream. Many objections have 
been raised by creamery men against the intro- 
duction of farm separators, but there is no ques- 
tion but that in many localities this is the only 
practical method that can be employed. The 
distances that the farmers live away from the 
creamery make long hauls necessary. This ex- 
pense can be greatly reduced by delivering 
cream. Even in the important dairy regions 
of this country the farm separator has proven 
its worth. There is no longer a question but that 
the farm separator is bound to have a place on 
most dairy farms. The fact that the dairyman, 
owning one of these machines, has better skim- 
milk to feed his young stock is an important 
item. Then again, we hear very much about 
the spread of tuberculosis. There is no ques- 
tion but that this disease can be spread through 
factory skim-milk and whey. If the farmer 
wishes to keep his herd free from this dread 
disease he should be very careful in the feed- 
ing of these factory by-products. The farm sep- 
arator insures safety in this respect. 

Another important point is the fact that by 
the use of the hand separator the bulk that 
must be cooled is very materially lessened. Those 



112 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

who make an effort to deliver milk or cream in 
good condition appreciate the value of cooling. 

Selling cream to city trade. Instead of selling 
cream to a butter factory, it may be sold for 
direct consumption. This is probably the most 
profitable method and yields the largest returns. 
The demand for good cream is rapidly increas- 
ing. In every city patrons may be found who 
want good cream and are willing to pay for it. 
They may be hotel managers, boarding house 
keepers, candy makers, ice cream manufacturers, 
or other people who are ready to contract for 
cream of a certain richness at a definite price per 
gallon. 

To illustrate that it pays to cater to this sort 
of trade, let it be assumed that a dairyman can 
sell a gallon of twenty-five per cent cream for 
seventy cents. This may be more than a farmer 
can obtain in certain sections, but in many parts 
of the country even a higher price than this 
can be obtained. 

A gallon of cream weighs from 8.2 to 8.4 
pounds, depending upon its richness. Koughly 
speaking, a gallon of cream testing 25 per 
cent contains about 2.1 pounds of fat. This 
2.1 pounds of fat will make about 2.5 pounds of 
butter. If 70 cents is received for a gallon of 
25 per cent cream, it is practically equivalent 
to 28 cents a pound for butter. Besides this the 



DISPOSING OF MILK AND CREAM 113 

extra labor and expense of ripening the cream, 
churning and washing the butter, salting and 
packing it, are avoided. 

Variations in the richness of cream. There is 
no separator manufactured that will deliver 
cream uniform in richness from day to day. 
Variations in tests, as has been previously ex- 
plained, may be due to the rate at which the milk 
is fed into the bowl, the speed at which the 
separator is turned, the richness of the milk, and 
the temperature of the milk. For the above 
reasons, occasional testing of the cream to deter- 
mine its richness cannot be depended upon. 
On this account a farmer may be delivering 
a richer cream than is contracted for, thus los- 
ing money thereby. He cannot expect to offset 
this by delivering a poorer cream at times, be- 
cause this will arouse dissatisfaction and make 
him liable to breach of contract. The only safe 
way is to test the cream each time it is to be 
delivered and add sufficient milk to dilute it to 
the required per cent of fat. This is called 
^^ standardizing'^ and is not so difficult as might 
be imagined. How this may be done is best 
illustrated by the use of the diagrams following: 

How cream is standardized. Assuming that 
the dairyman has tested his cream and tinds that 
it contains 30 per cent fat, he will place the 
30 in the upper left-hand corner of the square. 



114 



PROFITABLE DAIRYING 



It would be easiest for liim to dilute the cream 
with skim-milk, which we will assume tests 0, 
although it may test .1 of 1.0 per cent fat; for 
practical work, however, it may be said to test 
nothing; 0, therefore, is placed in the lower left- 
hand corner. His contract calls for a 25 per cent 
cream, and 25 is placed where the diagonal lines 

IG4 




standardiZLnp cream. 



cross in the center of the square. Subtracting 25 
from 30 and following the diagonal line we place 
the difference, 5, in the lower right-hand corner. 
The difference between and 25 is 25, and we put 
that in the upper right-hand corner on the other 
diagonal. We now have figures in each of the 
four corners. The diagram may now be explained 
as follows, reading from left to right in the usual 
way: Of the 30 per cent cream we take 25 pounds, 
and of the skim-milk 5 pounds ; pouring these two 
together we have 30 pounds of 25 per cent cream. 
In other words, for every 25 pounds of 30 per 
cent cream, 5 pounds of skim-milk must be added 



DISPOSING OF MILK AND CREAM 115 

to dilute the cream so tliat it has a richness of 
25 per cent fat, the quality of the cream con- 
tracted for. 

Another method. Again, let us assume that 
a dairyman has contracted to sell a 20 per cent 
cream. He places the 20 in the center of the 
diagram as before. By testing his cream he finds 
that it contains 32 per cent fat. He has no skim- 
milk with which to dilute this cream and must 
use whole milk. Upon testing the same he finds 
it to read 3.6 per cent fat. As before, he puts 
the cream test in the upper left-hand corner 
and the milk test in the lower left-hand corner. 
The difference between 20 and 32 is 12; this is 
placed in the lower right-hand corner. The 
difference between 20 and 3.6 is 16.4, which is 
placed in the upper right-hand corner. Now, 
for every 16.4 pounds of 32 per cent cream he 
must add 12 pounds of milk testing 3.6 per cent, 
and when he pours these two together he will 
have 28.4 pounds of 20 per cent cream. 

The chief objection to the standardizing of 
cream is that it necessitates making a test of 
the cream each time it is to be delivered. This, 
however, is not a valid objection, inasmuch as 
the returns usually more than pay for the cost 
of the test. 

An easier way. Another method of standard- 
izing cream which may prove satisfactory,' but 



116 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

which is not quite so accurate, is as follows: 
Find out how much the milk from the herd tests 
by testing at intervals for a few days. There 
naturally will be some variation, but a test of 
the milk every few days will give the dairyman 
a fair average. It will then only be necessary 
to weigh the milk and cream. We will assume 
that a milkman made a contract to deliver 18 
per cent cream to an ice cream factory, that he 
had 280 pounds of milk and that it tested approx- 
imately 4.20 per cent. Multiplying 280 by 4.20 
will give 11.7 pounds of fat; dividing the 11.7 
by the test of the cream, 18, we get 65, or the 
number of pounds of cream testing 18 per cent 
which we should have that day. All that it is 
necessary for him to do now is to weigh the 
cream and add enough skim-milk to bring the 
weight up to 65 pounds. While this method is 
not quite so accurate, it is in most cases fairly 
satisfactory. 

EXERCISES 

1. What is the most profitable way of disposing 
of the milk in your vicinity ? 

2. What returns do yon get per cow per year? 

3. What is the cost of keeping a cow in your 
vicinity ? 

4. What is the weight of a gallon of milk? Of 
20 per cent cream? 

5. How many gallons of 20 per cent cream will 
you get from 100 pounds of 4 per cent milk? 



DISPOSING OF MILK AND CREAM 



117 



LABORATORY PROBLEMS 

XX. To Determixe the Rate of In- 
crease OF Acidity at Varying 
Temperatures 

1. Divide a lot of milk into two 
parts. Allow one sample to sour 
at a relatively warm temperature 
(75 to 80 degrees F.). Keep the 
other sample cool with well water 
at a temperature of 50 to 55 de- 
grees. 

2. Determine the acidity of 
each lot at intervals of about four 
hours; continue until the samples 
do not increase in acidity. 

3. Plot a curve to show the rate 
of the increase in the acidity of the 
milk. 





Graduated 
cylinder. Burette. 
Fig. 33. 
The essential 
pieces of apparatus 
for making acidity- 
tests of milk and 
cream. 



Fig. 32. Cream scales.* 



*In most states the law requires cream samples to be 
weighed for testing. 



CHAPTER XIV 
BUTTER MAKING AND CHEESE MAKING 

Should the dairyman make butter? Whether 
or not it will be profitable for a farmer to invest 
in equipment so that he can make butter properly 
is another question that he alone can answer. 
The question resolves itself into this: Can he 
get an increased price for his product sufficient 
to warrant incurring the additional expenditure 
of money and labor necessary to produce a 
marketable product? 

In most sections of this country, especially 
where the creameries are numerous, dairymen 
prefer to sell their cream to butter factories, 
and thus save the labor and expense incident to 
the manufacture of butter on a small scale. 
There are some so fortunately situated that they 
can get a higher price for their cream by sell- 
ing it for direct consumption, and they do sell it 
that way. There are others who, for sentimental 
reasons, prefer to make their own butter, and 
therefore the extra expense and labor is not 
looked upon as a serious obstacle. 

Sweet cream butter. In certain sections of 

118 



BUTTER AND CHEESE MAKING 119 

Europe butter is made of very sweet cream, 
which finds a ready sale. Such butter, however, 
has a peculiarly flat, insipid flavor, objectionable 
to most people at first, but a taste for which 
can easily be acquired. This kind of butter does 
not keep well and therefore must be delivered 
fresh from the churn. 

Ripened cream butter. In America people gen- 
erally want what is known as ripened cream 
butter. Such butter has better keeping qualities. 
Cream for this kind of butter must undergo a 
** souring'' process which is usually termed 
** ripening. ' ' One of the objects of ripening 
cream is to produce flavor, and as flavor is a 
most important point to be considered, it is 
evident that the ripening must be done properly. 
To hasten this process, and at the same time 
to aid it, it is often advisable to add what 
is termed a ** starter.'' A good starter is a 
quantity of good, sour milk or skim-milk in 
which the desirable organisms producing good 
flavors in butter have gained the ascendency, 
and which when added to the cream have a ten- 
dency to check the development of the less 
desirable organisms. In this way the butter 
maker may in a measure control the flavor of 
butter. 

The ripening of cream. The matter of tem- 
perature is an important point. As a rule cream 



120 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

is ripened at a temperature of from 65 to 70 
degrees F., and when it reaches an acidity of 
four-tenths to five-tenths of one per cent (which 
may easily be determined by any one of the 
many acidity tests available), the cream is cooled 
to about 54 degrees and held at this temper- 
ature for at least two hours before churning, 
with an occasional stirring. When cream is held 
for three or four days before churning, it should 
be well stirred at least twice each day. It is not 
desirable to hold cream at a low temperature 
longer than necessary, because, as has been pre- 
viously stated, at these low temperatures organ- 
isms develop that produce bitter flavors. The 
ripening process should be started as soon as 
possible after separation, because the develop- 
ment of the lactic acid germs has a tendency 
to check the growth of these bitter flavor organ- 
isms. Great care must also be exercised to 
check the acidity, as the keeping quality of the 
butter may be seriously impaired by over 
ripening. 

Churning. The best kind of a churn is one 
that has no internal parts. A barrel churn is 
about as satisfactory as any on the market. The 
cream, being at a low temperature, should not 
begin to gather in much less than thirty minutes, 
otherwise the butter is likely to have a soft 
body. When the butter is gathered into granules 



BUTTER AND CHEESE MAKING 



121 



about the size of wheat grains the buttermilk 
should be drained off and some clean, cold water 
added and the butter washed. Care should be 
exercised to prevent overchuming, for when but- 
ter is gathered into large lumps it cannot be 
washed properly. Since the purpose of washing 
butter is to remove the curd, it is very essential 
that the granules be left small so that the 
curd can be easily re- 
moved. The amount of 
salt is governed by tlie 
demands of the market. 

Salting. Probably the 
best way to add the salt, 
when small quantities of 
butter are made, is to 
practice what is termed 
*^wet salting.'' By this 
method a small quantity 
of water is added to the 
salt to partly dissolve it, 
and then this brine and undissolved salt are added 
to the butter in the churn after the butter has 
been washed. 

Working and packing. During the working 
process the salt should be given time to dissolve, 
so that when the butter has been worked enough 
there will be no grittiness. It is very essential 
that the salt be uniformly distributed through- 




Fig-. 34. The barrel churn. 
A modern tool for making 
home-made butter. 



122 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

out the butter, otherwise we obtain what is 
known as mottles. Mottles are quite character- 
istic of dairy butter, and are very undesirable. 
They can easily be avoided by exercising care 
in the method of manufacturing the butter. The 
style of package is regulated by the demands 
of the consumer, and of late years the one- 
pound prints and two-pound rolls have become 
very popular. Any other size or style of pack- 
age may be used, but in every case the pack- 
age should be neat and attractive. In fact, the 
two ends to be achieved in the making of butter 
are to produce an article that will be attractive 
to the eye and ** tickle the palate.'' 

The overrun. A hundred pounds of butter 
fat in the milk will make approximately 116 
pounds of butter. This is due to the fact that 
butter contains curd, salt, and water in addition 
to the butter fat. 

The composition of butter is approximately 
as follows: 

Fat 82.5% 

Water 14.5% 

Salt 2.0% 

Curd 1.0% 

100.0% 

The difference between the amount of fat and 
the amount of butter made from the same, ex- 
pressed in percentage, is termed the ** overrun.'' 



BUTTER AND CHEESE MAKING 123 

This overrun will vary as the composition of 
butter varies. The overrun is also greatly influ- 
enced by the losses of fat in the skim-milk and 
the buttermilk. When the amount of fat in the 
cream is used as a basis of computation the over- 
run will amount approximately to from 20.0 to 
21.0 per cent. This serves to explain why the 
butter made from a definite amount of cream will 
not correspond with the fat in the cream. For 
instance, 100 pounds of cream testing 33.00 per 
cent will contain 33 pounds of butter fat, but 
the butter made from this cream (if the overrun 
is 20.0 per cent) will amount to 39.6 pounds. 

Cheese making in the United States. The man- 
ufacture of cheese from milk is carried on quite 
extensively in two sections of this country, cen- 
tering in the states of New York and Wisconsin. 
Fifty years ago about one hundred million 
pounds of cheese were made annually on the 
farms of the United States, but owing to the 
superiority of factory cheese the amount made 
has steadily decreased until at the present time 
only about eight million pounds are made. 

Making cheese on the farm. Farm cheese- 
making has almost become a lost art. This is 
because the labor and expense of making cheese 
in this manner are much greater than when it is 
made at the factory. Then, too, the factory men 
as a class are better trained, so that the quality 



124 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

of their cheese is better, and they have the advan- 
tage of being able to market their product more 
profitably. It is evident, therefore, that the man- 
ufacture of cheese on the farm is soon to be a 
thing of the past. This does not mean, however, 
that many types of *^fancy^' cheese can not be 
made to good advantage on a dairy farm. Where 
market facilities are good, such types of cheese, 
made by trained men, can often be profitably 
manufactured and marketed. 

Kinds of cheese. The most common type of 
cheese made in the United States is termed 
** Cheddar'' or ** American'' cheese. It is the 
cheese commonly sold at the grocery store. In 
Wisconsin there is a locality where a fine grade 
of Swiss cheese is made. This particular section 
was thickly settled by people from Switzerland, 
and naturally they introduced the art of making 
Swiss cheese. 

In other sections of Wisconsin are also manu- 
factured what are termed ^' Brick" and ^^Lim- 
burger" cheese — these are soft cheeses, very 
popular with some people. 

Good milk necessary. Successful cheese mak- 
ing depends upon the growth and development 
of favorable bacteria. It is very essential to have 
good milk, much more so than is the case where 
the fat in the milk is manufactured into butter. 
Hence, it follows, that while everything should 



BUTTER AND CHEESE MAKING 125 

be done to produce good cream for butter 
making, it is all the more necessary to produce 
excellent milk for cheese making if a high grade 
product is desired. 

EXERCISES 

1. Will the cream from stripper cows churn as 
readily as the cream from fresh cows? Why? 

2. Is ** Jersey" cream butter better than *'Hol- 
stein" cream butter? 

3. How many pounds of butter can be made from 
380 pounds of 4 per cent milk? 

4. Thirty years ago dairymen talked about * ' cheese ' * 
and ** butter" cows. Why the distmction? 

5. What states in the Union produce the most 
cheese? The most butter? 

LABORATORY PROBLEMS 
XXI. Churning 

An interestmg churning exercise can be given before 
the whole class if the facilities are available for mak- 
ing churning observations. The time required for such 
an exercise is usually two hours, provided everything 
is in readiness when the class meets. 

It is rather difficult to give an outline that will 
serve all purposes during different seasons and under 
varying conditions, but the following suggestions may 
be of help to the instructor who desires to give such 
a demonstration. 

1. The churn, ladles, worker, etc. should first be 
washed Avith scalding hot water and then thoroughly 
chilled with an ample supply of cold water. 



X26 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

2. Fill the churn about one-half full of cream. Add 
the butter color at the rate of from 40 to 50 c.c. of 
color per 100 pounds of fat. The amount of fat can 
be closely estimated by knowing the weight of the 
cream and its approximate test. It is not necessary 
to use butter color, but many prefer butter that is 
colored. 

3. After giving the churn a few revolutions, open 
it to allow the "gas" to escape. It is necessary to do 
this but once or twice at the beginning of the churning. 

4. Revolve the churn so that there will be a good 
"concussion." (About 50 revolutions per minute is 
usually sufficient.) 

5. Observe the temperature of the cream. This, of 
course, will vary, depending upon such factors as 
richness of the cream, acidity of the cream, etc. Under 
summer conditions usually 52 to 54 degrees F. are 
the best temperatures; in winter, or when the cows 
are on dry feed, or when most of them are strippers, 
it may be necessary to use temperatures ranging from 
58 to 60 degrees. It is not advisable, however, to 
employ temperatures much warmer than these. 

6. While the churning is going on, some one can 
make a fat test of the cream. As a general rule the 
cream for churning should test from 25 to 35 per cent 
fat. 

7. An acidity test should be made as a matter of 
information. Generally a slightly sour cream will 
make the kind of butter that the average consumer 
prefers. An acidity from .4 to .5 per cent is sat- 
isfactory. 

8. The time required to churn varies, depending 
upon the temperature employed, acidity of the creaDi, 
etc. It should take from 30 to 45 minutes for the 



BUTTER AND CHEESE MAKING 127 

butter to "gather." If it takes longer than this, then 
the cream should have been a trifle warmer. If it is 
finished sooner, however, a lower temperature should 
have been employed. It is very important that the 
cream should be kept at a temperature of from 52 to 
54 degrees for at least two hours before putting it into 
the churn. 

9. When the granules are as large as wheat ker- 
nels the churning should be stopped. This must be 
watched very closely, as a few revolutions too many 
at this time will result in overehurning the butter. 

10. Draw off all the buttermilk and determine its 
temperature. 

11. Wash the butter by adding about as much 
water as there is buttermilk draAvn from the churn. 
The water should be clean and should have about the 
same temperature as the buttermilk. During the sum- 




Fig. 35. A hand butter worker used in farm dairies. 



mer it is advisable to use water a few degrees colder 
than the buttermilk. Revolve the churn slowly for a 
few revolutions and then draw off the wash water. 

12. Salt to suit the taste. About a pound of salt 
added to a pint of water will be sufficient to salt about 



128 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

10 pounds of butter. Scatter the salt and brine over 
the butter and revolve the churn once or twice. 

13. The butter can be worked by means of ladles 
while it is still in the churn. If a worker is available, 
the butter can be taken out of the churn and the 
working finished. It should be worked only enough 
to thoroughly knead the butter granules together and 
to get the salt uniformly distributed. It may be nec- 
essary occasionally to allow the salt to dissolve. Where 
*Svet" salting is practiced the working can be fin- 
ished at once. Butter sliould not he worked too long, 
as overivorking will cause it to become greasy. 

14. The butter should be weighed and the ** over- 
run" computed. The following observations should be 
made by the students : 

Name Date 

Kind of churn Capacity 

Amount of cream Temperature 

Test of cream Acidity 

Pounds of fat in cream. . . Amt. of butter color used. . 
Time required to churn. . .Temperature buttermilk... 

Size of granules Acidity of buttermilk 

Temperature wash water. .Fat test of buttermilk 

Amount of salt used Wet or dry 

Pounds butter made Per cent overrun 



CHAPTER XIV 
THE BARN 

There are two buildings that the dairy farmer 
cannot well get along without: A good, clean, 
well-ventilated barn in which to house his herd 
and dry fodder, and one or more silos in which 
to store a supply of palatable green food for the 
winter months. 

The barn adapted to the needs of the farm. 
But little need be said about the construction 
of the barn. The careful farmer will adapt the 
barn to the size of the farm, the number of cows 
kept thereon, the kind of grain and roughage 
stored for food, and other local conditions. He 
will undoubtedly be able to draw his own plans, 
or to secure some one to design a barn for him that 
will suit his own special needs better than any 
plan which can be suggested here. But there 
is one feature of barn construction so greatly neg- 
lected that it deserves to be mentioned in every 
treatise on dairy farming. This important feature 
is ventilation. 

Ventilation often neglected. In our efforts to 
provide warm and comfortable quarters for our 

129 



130 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

stock we have overlooked, in many cases, tlie most 
important matter of all — proper ventilation. As 
we enter some stables on a winter's morning, 
after the barn has been closed all night, we are 









..^^ __^^M 


WLS* 



Fig. 36. A well-ventilated dairy barn with "twin" stave silos. 

almost stifled by the odors and impurities which 
fill the air. These must necessarily be very 
harmful to the animals that are forced to breathe 
them over and over again. In such stables no 
provision is made for admitting fresh air or for 
withdrawing that which has become charged 
with impurities and robbed of its life-giving 
oxygen. Oxygen is the one air element abso- 
lutely necessary to all animal life. We ourselves 
know only too well the debilitating effect of 
breathing bad air. The respiratory organs of 



THE BARN 131 

animals are very similar to our own and they 
too must suffer from the bad effects of breath- 
ing impure air. Without doubt the alarming 
prevalence of tuberculosis among dairy cattle 
IS largely due to this cause. Hence this neg- 
lected feature of barn construction is deemed 
worthy of detailed mention in this book. 

The King system best for barns. In a well- 
ventilated barn the air is almost as pure and 
fresh and free from bad odors as it is in the 
most sanitary home. The most successful and 
most widely used method of ventilation in this 
country is known as the King system. It is so 
perfect in its operation, so inexpensive, and so 
easy to install that no up-to-date dairy barn 
should be built without this or a similar system 
of ventilation. 

The ventilating flues — ^how installed. In this 
system air is taken in on the outside of the barn 
near the ground, passes up through an air space 
in the walls made in the form of a wooden box, 
and is admitted into the barn near the ceiling. 
This method of admitting the air prevents 
draughts and forces the bad air to the floor, 
where it is drawn out through ventilating flues 
that extend from one foot of the floor to above 
the roof of the barn. It is important that these 
flues reach nearly to the floor, otherwise the 
warm air of the bani, which is found near the 



132 



PROFITABLE DAIRYING 



ceiling, and not the had air, which is to be found 
near the floor, will be drawn off. These venti- 
lating flues may be made from wood or from 



n 




I 



CED 



n 



^^t^^^^E 



II. 

Fig, 37. King- system of ventilation. 
I. Arranged for cows facing outward. 
II. Arranged for cows facing center aisle. 

galvanized iron, tin, or sheet iron pipe. A single 
flue 2x2 feet, inside measure, is said to be suffi- 
cient for twenty cows. The intake flues should 
be of the same capacity. In stone walls these 
are usually made of tile. If two or more smaller 
flues are used, which in the judgment of the 



THE BARN 



133 



writer are to be preferred, their combined capac- 
ity should be the same as that of the larger flue. 
If more than twenty cows are to be stabled, the 
size of the ventilating flues should be increased 
proportionately. 

This system w^as designed by the late Pro- 
fessor King (hence its name) and has found 
widespread adoption. 




Fig, 38. Interior of modern dairy barn, showing sanitary 
construction and equipment. 



Pure air and sunlight essential to high-class 
dairying. Fresh air is necessary to the health 
of the stock. So, too, is light. It is well known 
that sunlight will destroy germ life. The dairy- 
man, while providing proper ventilation, should 
also provide for admitting an abundance of sun- 
light into his barn. Fresh air and plenty of 



134 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

sunlight are the surest means of preventing germ 
diseases in the dairy herd. 

EXERCISES 

1. Why is fresh air admitted into a barn near the 
ceiHng ? Why not open a window ? 

2. Why does the outlet flue extend to within one 
foot of the floor? 

3. Why not admit fresh air under the door and 
draw off bad air from the ceiling? 

4. Why not use the hay chutes for ventilating flues ? 
Should hay chutes be open or closed while cattle are in 
the barn? 

5. What provision do you have for ventilation in 
the home barn ? 

6. Would it be possible to install a ventilating sys- 
tem in your barn ? If so, how ? 

LABORATORY PROBLEMS 
XXII. To Determine the Per Cent of Water in Butter 

According to a rule made by the Department of Agri- 
culture at Washington, creamery butter containing 16 
per cent or more of water is considered adulterated and 
is subject to a tax. It is therefore very important that 
butter should be made that will contain less than this 
amount of water. It is an easy matter to determine 
the water content of butter, but great care must be exer- 
cised to have the samples representative. 

1. By means of a trier small lots of butter should 
be taken from different parts of the tub. These lots 
should be placed in a small, wide-mouthed, stoppered 
bottle. This butter should then be heated so as to 



THE BARN I35 

give it a creamery texture, hut it should not he melted. 
It should then be thoroughly mixed while cooling under 
a water faucet. 

2. Carefully weigh a small aluminum cup, which 
can be obtained at any ''ten-cent store" for 10 cents. 
The cup should be thoroughly cleaned and dried over 
a flame. Cool before weighing. 

3. Quickly weigh a small quantity of butter into a 
cup ; 10 to 20 grams are sufficient. 

4. Gently heat over a small alcohol lamp, keeping 
the cup in constant rotary motion. Care must be exer- 
cised to prevent spattering. 

5. When the contents of the cup become a uniform 
brown color, it is an indication that the moisture has 
all been driven off. 

6. Cool and weigh. The difference in weight repre- 
sents the amount of water driven off. 

7. Dividing the weight of water driven off by the 
weight of the original sample will give the per cent 
of moisture in the butter. 



CHAPTER Xy 
THE SILO 

The use of the silo. The silo is the one farm 

building that needs the most careful construc- 
tion. The importance of silage as a feeding stuff 
is growing more apparent as dairying advances. 
Nature has provided in summer proper food for 
most farm animals, and the nearer summer con- 
ditions can be maintained throughout the year, 
the greater will be the farmer's success. Hence 
the importance of silage as a feeding stuff. It 
is a green feed preserved in its natural condi- 
tion, or nearly so, for winter feeding. As soon 
as the pasture gets short in the fall the silo 
may be opened and feeding of ensilage begun. 
In this way there need be little if any dimin- 
ution in the flow of milk. 

The four essentials of a good silo. But the 
silage will not keep well in a poorly constructed 
silo. Whatever the type of silo the farmer 
chooses to build, four things must be observed: 
It must be strong, as nearly air tight as possible, 
perfectly smooth on the inside, and placed on a 
strong, solid foundation. 

136 



THE SILO 



137 



The silo must be almost air tight because the 
air contains germs that will set to work upon 
the silage and cause it to spoil and decay if 
the air is not excluded. Silage is something 




Fig. 39. An artistic tile silo with double air 
space in walls to keep out the cold. 

like canned fruit in this respect. The silo must 
be strong because the green feed with which it 
is filled is very heavy and packs down very 
solidly. This exerts a tremendous pressure which 
will spring or burst the walls of a poorly con- 
structed silo and admit the air, causing the silage 
to spoil. It should be perfectly smooth on the 
inside because the silage should settle evenly. 



138 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

Projections or rough places on the inner walls 
of a silo will prevent the even settling and cause 
dead air spaces which will spoil the silage. It 
must rest on a strong, solid foundation because 
the side pressure and weight at the bottom are 
very great. This pressure may be so great as 
to burst a heavy stone wall, and the great weight 
will cause a silo placed on a poor foundation to 
settle out of shape and crack the walls. 

Silage a satisfactory feed. If this building is 
so constructed as to provide for sufficient venti- 
lation and to prevent freezing, and if proper care 
is used in filling the silo, the silage will be found 
to be one of the most satisfactory feeds for dairy 
cows, especially when winter dairying is car- 
ried on. 

The five types of silos. There are five types of 
silos in common use; wood, brick, tile, stone, and 
cement, but they are all built on the same general 
plan. A hole four or five feet deep is dug in the 
ground. The bottom of this hole is covered with 
a layer of concrete and cement and the sides 
walled up for a foot or two above the top with 
a heavy stone wall, at least two feet thick. On 
top of this wall the silo is usually built of two 
thicknesses of whatever material is used, with a 
dead air space between. The filling doors open 
to the outside, and the feeding doors open into 
the barn. A ventilator is placed on top, and the 



THE SILO 139 

walls are strengthened with hoops, rods or iron 
bands. In warmer climates where there is slight 
danger from frost, another type known as the 
stave silo is used. This is very much like a 
large barrel, and the cost of building such a silo 
is considerably less than the double wall type. 
The solid concrete silo is also rapidly coming 
into popular favor. 

EXERCISES 

1. "Why should the hoops or reinforcing rods be 
closer together near the bottom of the silo than near 
the top? 

2. Can silage be stored in a ' ' square ' ' silo ? 

3. "Why not build a ''square" instead of a ''round" 
silo. 

5. "Why is a hollow wall silo to be preferred to one 
of solid concrete? 

6. "What kind of silo do you have on the home farm ? 

7. "What kind of silo would be best for you to build? 
Give rea::ons for your choice. 

8. IIow many silos are there within five miles of 
your home? 

LABORATORY PROBLEMS 

XXIII. To Determine the Fat Context of Skim-Milk, But- 
termilk AND Whey 

Owing to the small amount of fat in skim-milk, it is 
necessary to use a specially constructed bottle for this 
work. The "double neck" bottle is generally used to 
determine the fat content of skim-milk, buttermilk and 
whey. 



140 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

, a. To determine the fat content of skim-milk. Trans- 
fer 17.6 c.c. pipetteful of skim-milk to a double neck 
bottle. Add about 20 c.c. of sulphuric acid. Mix well 
and test as in the case of milk, except that only one 
filling with water is necessary. The points to be observed 
in testing skim-milk are : 

1. Use excess amount (or over 17.5 c.c.) of sul- 
phuric acid. 

2. Whirl a minute or two longer than in the case 
of whole milk test. 

3. Do not allow mixture to cool. 

b. To determine tlie fat content of buttermilk. Use 
double neck bottle, as in the case of testing skim-milk; 
also u e excess amount of sulphuric acid. 

c. To determine tlie fat content of ivJiey. Because 
there is very little casein in whey, it is evident that it is 
not necessary to use so much acid as in the case of skim- 
milk or buttermilk; 12 to 14 c.c. are usually sufficient. 

Note: It is very essential that the neck of the double neck 
bottle be perfectly clean and dry in order that the air may 
have free access. 



CHAPTER XVI 
FEED FOR THE COW 

The cow a milk-making machine. The cow 
may be compared to a machine. When we stop 
to consider that the real purpose of the cow 
from the dairyman's standpoint is to produce 
milk, in the same way that the purpose of a 
machine is to produce some given article, we 
are justified in making the comparison. We 
give the cow a certain quantity of food and from 
this we expect her to maintain herself and at 
the same time convert a good share of the 
food into milk. Good dairymen realize that the 
profit comes from the excess of food that she 
consumes over and above that required for her 
bodily maintenance. 

A maintenance ration necessary. Investigators 
have found that the daily maintenance ration of 
a cow weighing about 1,000 pounds is: .7 pounds 
digestible protein, 8.0 pounds digestible carbo- 
hydrates, and 0.1 pound ether extract. 

Granting that the above is true, we can easily 
see that a dairyman, in order to get a supply 
of milk from his herd, must give each cow more 

141 



142 



PROFITABLE DAIRYING 



than tlie above maintenance ration before he 
can expect her to yield a satisfactory return. 
It would be a foolish engineer that would only 
turn on steam sufficient to keep his engine mov- 




Fig-. 40. Maplecrest Pontiac Flora Hartog. 
The photograph shows how she appeared at the close of her 
great year's work — 25,106.3 pounds milk; 3.92 per cent fat. 

ing when it is in his power to give it all the 
steam necessary to work it to its full capacity. 
The engineer, therefore, must take into consider- 
ation the size of the engine, the particular type 
of engine, and the work to be performed. So, 
too, must the dairyman take into consideration 
the size of the cow, her individuality, and also the 
particular type of cow. A three-year-old heifer 
cannot be expected to be as productive as a cow 
several years older. A good type of cow will do 



FEED FOR THE COW 143 

better work than a poor type, in the same way 
that a Corliss engine will produce more power 
from a given amount of steam than a common 
slide valve engine. 

Uniform feeding impossible. Inasmuch as the 
individual requirements of the animal must be 
given consideration by a good dairyman, it is 
readily seen that feeding all animals the same 
amount of feed is neither advisable nor profit- 
able. It would be unwise for a dairyman, if he 
expects to get the best results from his cows, 
to feed all the cows in the herd the same amount, 
regardless of whether they are giving 15, 20, or 
30 pounds of milk per day. This may be best 
emphasized by calling attention to the standard 
rations used in this connection by scientific dairy- 
men all over the world. These were suggested 
by the eminent German authorities, Wolff-Leh- 
mann, as the result of their investigations. 

WOLFF-LEHMANN MODIFIED STANDARDS FOR A ONE- 
THOUSAND-POUND COW 

Digestible Nutrients 
Dry Carbohy- Ether Nutri- 

Matter Protein drates Extract tive 
Lbs. Lbs. Lbs. Lbs. Ratio 

1. When giving 11 lbs. of 

milk daily 25 L6 10 .3 1: 6.7 

2. When giving 16i/> lbs. of 

milk daily 27 2.0 11 .4 1: 6.0 

3. When giving 22 lbs. of 

milk daily 29 2.5 13 .5 1: 5.7 

4. When giving 27 V. lbs. of 

milk daily 32 3.3 13 .8 1: 4.5 

Standard maintenance ra- 
tion daily 18 .7 8 .1 1:11.8 



144 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

Protein more important than carbohydrates. 

In looking over this table the reader will at 
once notice that the cow receives more feed 
when she is giving a larger quantity of milk; 
especially is the proportional increase greater in 
protein than in carbohydrates. The reason for 
this is very evident; protein is a very essential 
part of all foods. In fact, the percentage of 
protein in a food determines its value for build- 
ing the muscles of the body and supplying the 
casein of milk. It is also argued by some that it 
is one of the sources of fat in milk. Such feeds 
as clover, alfalfa, bran and gluten contain a great 
deal of protein, and for this reason they are very 
desirable feeds. Carbohydrates are found in 
more or less abundance in all feed and are easier 
to obtain than protein. Their chief property is 
the maintaining of the heat of the body. Starches 
and sugars are good examples of this class of 
feeds. 

The value of fat. Ether extract, so called be- 
cause this element is extracted by ether when 
an examination of food is made by chemical 
analysis, is, in homely language, the fat of the 
feed. The principal function of this part of 
the food is similar to that of carbohydrates; that 
is, to maintain temperature. However, a pound 
of ether extract has within it the power to pro- 
duce more heat than a pound of carbohydrates. 



FEED FOR THE COW 145 

It is customary to say that one pound of ether 
extract has from 2.2 to 2.5 times the heat energy 
of a pound of carbohydrates. 

How rations are compounded. In compound- 
ing a ration we tirst estimate the amount of dry 
matter in the feed; that is, the amount that the 
feed would weigh if all the water it contained 
were driven off by heat. Similarly it is neces- 
sary to estimate the amounts of protein, carbo- 
hydrates and ether extract. There are several 
things, however, that must be taken into con- 
sideration. A considerable portion of the pro- 
tein is not digestible and therefore the animal 
may be charged with receiving protein which 
she cannot use, as a comparison of the following 
tables will show. 

(From Henry's ''Feeds and Feeding"): 



TABLE I 

Water and total nutrients per 100 pounds feed 

Crude Nitrogen Ether 

Feeding Stuffs Water Protein Fiber Free Extract 

Roughage: Lbs. Lbs. Lbs. Extract Lbs. 

Corn stover, field cured. 40.5 3.8 19.7 31.5 1.1 

Red clover hay 15.3 12.3 24.8 38.1 3.3 

Timothv hay 13.2 5.9 29.0 45.0 2.5 

Oat straw 9.2 4.0 37.0 42.4 2.3 

Concentrates: 

Corn, dent 10.6 10.3 2.2 70.4 5.0 

Oats 11.0 11.8 9.5 59.7 5.0 

Wheat bran 11.9 15.4 9.0 53.9 4.0 

Linseed meal, O. P 9.2 32.9 8.9 35.4 7.9 



146 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

TABLE II 

Total digestible substances in 100 pounds 

Total 

Feeding Stuffs Dry Carbohy- Ether Nutritive 

Roughage: Matter Protein drates Extract Ratio 

Corn stover 59.5 1.7 32.4 0.7 1:20.0 

Red clover hay 84.7 6.8 35.8 1.7 1: 5.8 

Timothy hay 86.8 2.8 43.4 1.4 1:16.7 

Oat straw 90.8 1.2 38.6 0.8 1:33.7 

Concentrates: 

Corn or corn meal 89.4 7.8 66.7 4.3 1: 9.8 

Oats 89.0 9.2 47.3 4.2 1:6.2 

Wheat bran 88.1 12.2 39.2 2.7 1:3.7 

Oil meal, O. P 90.8 29.3 32.7 7.0 1:1.7 

The value of a feed is dependent upon digest- 
ible nutrients it contains. In the above, attention 
is called to the total protein content of wheat 
bran, which is 15.4 pounds per 100 pounds of the 
feed. In the second table it will be learned that 
of this only 12.2 pounds are digestible, the 
amount of protein available for the animal. 

Oat straw contains, as is shown in the first 
table, 4 per cent of protein. In the second table 
100 pounds of oat straw contains only 1.2 pounds 
of digestible protein. The value of knowing the 
amount of digestible nutrients the feed contains 
cannot be overestimated. 

It should be noted that certain feeds, such as 
oat straw, are so deficient in nourishment that it 
would be necessary for a cow to eat two or 
three hundred pounds of these feeds in order 
to furnish her sufficient nourishment to enable 
her to secrete twenty to twenty-four pounds of 



FEED FOR THE COW 147 

milk in a day. This, of course, is an impos- 
sibility. It is mentioned only to show that a 
cow cannot be turned out to a straw stack with 
the expectation that her flow of milk will be 
maintained. 

June pasture ideal. On the other hand, it is 
well known that pasture is about as good a ration 
as we ordinarily find, and for this reason cows 
usually give a large flow of milk during June 
and July, because all the elements necessary to 
maintain the body and manufacture the milk are 
found in succulent pasture grass. 

What is a balanced ration? When we speak 
of a balanced ration we mean a ration in which 
protein, carbohydrates, and ether extracts are 
combined in about the right proportion. Wolff 
and Lehmann adopted a standard by which every 
cow yielding 22 pounds of milk daily should 
receive a ration containing 29 pounds of dry 
matter, of which 2.5 pounds should be digestible 
protein, 13 pounds digestible carbohydrates, and 
.5 pound digestible ether extract. The nutritive 
ratio which they adopted was 1:5.7. 

How the nutritive ratio is found. The method 
of computing the nutritive ratio may be briefly 
explained as follows: Multiply the digestible 
ether extract by 2.4 (inasmuch as it is presumed 
that each pound of ether extract furnishes 2.4 
times the heat units that are found in one pound 



148 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

of carbohydrates), add to tUis tlie digestible 
carbohydrates, and divide the sum by the digest- 
ible protein in the food. In the above, multiply- 
ing .5 by 2.4 we get 1.2; adding 1.2 to 13 we 
get the sum 14.2; dividing this by 2.5 we get 5.7. 
The ratio of the protein, therefore, to the other 
constituents is 1:5.7, or 1 part of protein to 
every 5.7 parts of carbohydrates or their equiv- 
alent. 

The Haecker standard. The Wolff-Lehmann 
standard lias been largely superseded by Amer- 
ican standards. The best one of these was given 
to us by Professor T. L. Haecker of Minnesota 
as a result of his investigation and varies with 
the amount and quality of milk a cow produces. 
He first establishes a maintenance ration (the 
amount of feed required to keep a dry cow at a 
constant weight), and to this he adds an addi- 
tional ration necessary to produce the amount 
of milk which the cow is capable of producing, 
as will be observed from a study of the following 
table : 

TABLE III 
Showing maintenance rations for cows of different weights 



Weight 


Protein 


Carbohydrates 


Ether Extract 


800 


.56 


5.6 


.08 


900 


.63 


6.3 


.09 


1,000 


.70 


7.0 


.10 


1,100 


.77 


7.7 


.11 


1,200 


.84 


8.4 


.12 


1,400 


.98 


9.8 


.14 


1,600 


1.12 


11.2 


.16 



FEED FOR THE COW ^49 

How to use the Haecker standard. In prac- 
tical feeding an allowance of .7 pounds digestible 
protein, 7 pounds digestible carbohydrates, and .1 
pound ether extract per 1,000 pounds of live 
weight will suffice. 

To the maintenance ration there should be 
added an amount of feed sufficient to produce 
the amount of milk which the cow is capable 
of yielding. Haecker has shown that this varies 
with the richness of the milk as well as with its 
quantity. An examination of the following table 
makes this apparent. 



TABLE IV 

Showing feed required for the production of 10 pounds of 
milk of varying richness 

Per Cent Fat in Milk Protein Carbohydrates Ether Extract 



3.00 


.47 


2.00 


.17 


3.50 


.49 


2.21 


.19 


4.00 


.54 


2.42 


.21 


4.50 


.57 


2.64 


.23 


5.00 


.60 


2.84 


.24 


5.50 


.64 


3.00 


.26 



From the above table it is easily possible to 
calculate the amount of feed required by a cow 
of any given size to produce a given quantity of 
milk of any richness. 

Feeding rules. Haecker 's standards have been 
still further simplified for practical use by put- 
ting them in the form of the following rules for 
feeding grain and roughage: 



150 



PROFITABLE DAIRYING 



Rule I. Feed as many pounds of grain daily 
as the cow produces pounds of fat per week with 
all the hay and silage she will eat. 

Rule II. Feed one pound of grain daily for 
each three to four pounds of milk which the cow 
gives daily and all the roughage the cow will 
eat. 

It must be understood that both of these 
depend upon the kind of grain 
and roughage to be fed, which 
must in themselves constitute a 
good dairy ration and must con- 
tain the right amounts of protein, 
carbohydrates, and fat in the right 
proportions. With oat straw as 
roughage and corn meal as grain 
the rules would be valueless, since 
neither is sufficiently rich in pro- 
tein. On the other hand, alfalfa 
hay and bran fed according to 
the above rules would prove very 
expensive feeds. To apply the 
rules successfully the ration must 
be first compounded and balanced 
before being fed as directed in the 
rules. 

A dairyman can easily compute the amount of 
feed that each cow should receive per day; and 
also compute the cost of this feed. By formu- 




Fig. 41. Spring 
balance. The 
best scales for 
use in keeping 
milk and feed 
records of indi- 
vidual cows. 



FEED FOR THE COW 151 

lating several rations lie can easily calculate the 
rations that will cost him the least. In this way 
he is able to save in the cost of feed, and 
thus produce milk most economically. 

A study of feeds and feeding essential. There 
is no subject connected with dairying which the 
interested farmer can study with more profit 
to himself than that of feeding the dairy cow. 
It is impossible in so brief a work as this to 
more than mention what can be done. Some 
reliable text on feeds and feeding should be in 
the possession of those in any way connected 
with the feeding of dairy cows. 

Herewith is appended a list of the common 
feeds found in America, with analysis of each. 
The table shows the dry matter and the digest- 
ible nutrients per 100 pounds feeding stuff. The 
data for the same is taken from Henry's ''Feeds 
and Feeding": 



Concentrates : 
Corn all analysis. . . 


TABLE ^ 

Dry 

Matter 
Lbs. 
89.1 


^11 

Protein 
Lbs. 

7.9 
25.8 
10.2 
12.2 
12.2 

9.9 
11.5 
11.9 

8.7 
18.6 


Carbo- 
hydrates 
Lbs. 
66.7 
43.3 
69.2 
39.2 
50.0 
67.6 
50.3 
45.1 
65.6 
37.1 


Fat 

Lbs. 

4.3 




91.8 


11.0 


Wheat 

Wheat bran 

Wheat shorts 


89.5 

88.1 

88.2 


1.7 
2.7 
3.6 


Rye 

Rye bran 

Rye shorts 

Barley 

Malt sprouts 


88.4 

88.4 

90.7 

89.1 

89.8 


1.1 
2.0 
1.6 
1.6 
L7 



152 



PROFITABLE DAIRYING 
TABLE VII— Continued 



Dry 
Matter 
Concentrates: Lbs. 

Brewers' grains, dried 91.8 

Oats 89.0 

Sorghum seed 87.2 

Kaffir corn 84.8 

Millet 86.0 

Flax seed 90.8 

Linseed meal, old process. . 90.8 
Linseed meal, new process. 89.9 

Cotton-seed meal 91.8 

Peas 89.5 

Soy bean 89.2 

Cow peas 85.2 

Roughage : 
Fodder corn, field cured... 57.8 
Corn stover, husked shock 

corn, field cured 59.5 

Pasture grasses (mixed) . . 20.0 

Hay: 

Timothy 86.8 

Orchard grass 90.1 

Redtop 91.1 

Kentucky blue grass 78.8 

Oat hay 91.1 

Straw: 

Wheat 90.4 

Oat 90.8 

Legume hay and Straw: 

Red clover, medium 84.7 

Red clover, mammoth 78.8 

Alsike clover 90.3 

Crimson clover 90.4 

Alfalfa 91.6 

Cow peas 89.3 

Pea vine straw 86.4 

Silage: 

Corn 20.9 

Clover 28.0 

Alfalfa 27.5 

Roots and Tubers: 

Potato 21.1 

Beet, common 13.0 

Beet, sugar 13.5 





Carbo- 




Protein 


hydrates 


Fat 


Lbs. 


Lbs. 


Lbs. 


15.7 


36.3 


5.1 


9.2 


47.3 


4.2 


7.0 


52.1 


8.1 


7.8 


57.1 


2.7 


8.9 


45.0 


3.2 


20.6 


17.1 


29.0 


29.3 


32.7 


7.0 


28.2 


40.1 


2.8 


37.2 


16.9 


12.2 


16.8 


51.8 


0.7 


29.6 


22.3 


14.4 


18.3 


54.2 


1.1 



2.5 



34.6 



1.2 



1.7 


32.4 


0.7 


2.5 


10.2 


0.5 


2.8 


43.4 


1.4 


4.9 


42.3 


1.4 


4.8 


46.9 


1.0 


4.8 


37.3 


2.0 


4.3 


46.4 


1.5 


0.4 


36.3 


0.4 


1.2 


38.6 


0.8 


6.8 


35.8 


1.7 


5.7 


32.0 


1.9 


8.4 


42.5 


1.5 


10.5 


34.9 


L2 


11.0 


39.6 


L2 


10.8 


38.6 


1.1 


4.3 


32.3 


0.8 


0.9 


11.3 


0.7 


2.0 


13.5 


1.0 


3.0 


8.5 


1.9 


0.9 


16.3 


0.1 


1.2 


8.8 


0.1 


LI 


10.2 


0.1 



FEED FOR THE COW 153 

TABLE VII— Contirued 



Carbo- 




lydrates 


Fat 


Lbs. 


Lbs. 


5.4 


0.1 


8.1 


0.2 


8.2 


0.4 


7.3 




4.9 


3.7 


2.7 


3.6 


4.7 


0.8 


5.2 


0.3 


4.0 


1.3 


4.7 


0.1 



Dry 

Matter Protein 

Concentrates: Lbs. Lbs. 

Beet, mangel 9.1 1.1 

Rutabaga 11.4 1.0 

Miscellaneous: 

Cabbage 15.3 1.8 

Beet pulp 10.2 0.6 

Cows' milk 12.8 3.6 

Cows' milk, colostrum 25.4 17.6 

Skim-milk, gravity 9.6 3.1 

Skim-milk, centrifugal 9.4 3.9 

Buttermilk 9.9 3.9 

Whey 6.6 0.8 



EXERCISES 

1. Calculate a ration for a dairy cow giving 22 
pounds milk daily, using corn, clover hay, and wheat 
bran as feeds by the Wolff-Lehmann Standard. 

2. Suppose the cow Aveighs 1,000 pounds, calculate 
the ration, using the Haecker standard. 

3. Make a ration from the same feeds by using the 
two rules given above. 

4. Now compare all these rations. How do they 
differ? Is this difference great or slight? 

5. What rations do you feed on the home farm ? 

6. Can you calculate a better ration from the same 
feeds? 

LABORATORY PROBLEMS 
XXIV. To Determine the Per Cent of Fat in Cheese 

a. Weigh about 5 or 6 grams of cheese into an 18- 
gram 30 per cent or 9-gram 50 per cent cream test 
bottle. 

b. Add about 12 c.e. of boiling water. 



154 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

c. Place the bottle in hot water for several hours 
to thoroughly emulsify the mixture. This can be has- 
tened somewhat by adding four or five cubic centimeters 
of sulphuric acid. This is a slow process, as it takes 
considerable time for all the lumps to dissolve. 

d. When thoroughly emulsified cool to room temper- 
ature before adding sufficient acid to dissolve all the 
solids not fat. 

e. Test as in the case of milk. 

f. Calculate the per cent of fat obtained by the fol- 
lowing formula if an 18-gram bottle was used : 

Reading X 18 X 100 

— 7q z = per cent of fat in cheese. 

Grams used 

In case a 9-gram bottlq was used, substitute the figure 
9 for the figure 18. 

Note: Care must be exercised to prevent the evaporation 
of water from the cheese before and during the weighing 
process. 



CHAPTER XVII 
CARE OF THE COW 

Regularity the first essential to profitable 
dairying. One of the cardinal points that a good 
dairyman will observe in handling his cows is 
regularity in all his work. He will feed them 
at definite hours, and milk them at stated inter- 
vals; that is, if a cow is milked at six in the 
morning she should be milked about six o'clock 
at night, the best results being obtained when the 
time between milkings is the same. It may be 
interesting to add that the records show that 
large cities receive their i)oorest milk on Mon- 
day. This is accounted for by the fact that 
the farmers are not so regular in their work 
on Sunday as they are during the rest of the 
Aveek. 

Changes of feed should be made gradually. If 
for any reason it is advisable to change the feed 
of a herd it should be done gradually, so that the 
cows will become accustomed to the change and 
not be affected in any way. For example: When 
it becomes necessary to begin the feeding of 
ensilage; a very small portion should be fed at 

155 



156 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

the first feeding, followed by a gradual increase 
in the amount. In this way cows will not get 
^'off feed'' so readily. Many dairymen are so 
skillful that they can keep changing feeds from 
time to time without the cows showing any ill 
effects. This is due to their judicious method 
of feeding. 

Kindness necessary. The real purpose of keep- 
ing cows is to make a profit, and he is indeed 
an unwise dairyman who will furnish his cows 
with the best of feed and shelter and then spoil 
it all by abusing them. If he is at all observing 
he will note within a very short time that it 
does not pay to abuse or ill-treat milk cows. 
He must remember that the cow is a brute and 
he is a man, and if she ill-behaves in any way 
it is because she is following the laws of nature 
and is trying to protect herself. A cow will 
hold up her milk because she is disturbed in 
some way; perhaps she is afraid of punishment. 
Some milker may have clubbed her with a milk 
stool or otherwise ill-treated her. Scolding or 
loud and excited talking also makes her nervous. 
It is needless to add that chasing cows with dogs 
is not going to improve either the flow of milk 
or its quality. The practice of petting cows is 
to be commended, as they respond to kind and 
gentle treatment in a way that is profitable for 
the owner. 



CARE OF THE COW 157 

The wise dairyman will provide his cows with 
clean, palatable food which they will eat with 
relish rather than with stale food. He will pro- 
vide them with warm water to drink in winter, 
rather than ice-cold water, because he feels he 
would not like to drink such water himself. He 
will soon learn that it is profitable for him to 




Fig-. 42. Daisy Grace DeKol. 
Good care enabled this cow to become one of the world's record 

cows. 

warm the water rather than to send them to the 
pond where he has chopped a hole in the ice. 
Experiment stations have proven that the shrink- 
age in the milk flow is considerable when warm 
water is not supplied. 

Dehorning. When cows were still in their 
wild state, nature provided them with horns to 
protect themselves and their offspring. How- 



158 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

ever, as the dairyman now protects his herd 
against the ravages of wolves and other wild 
beasts, these appendages are no longer neces- 
sary and should be removed. This can be done 
in a humane way when they are calves and 
the effect is hardly noticeable. In case a horned 
cow is purchased, she should be dehorned as 
soon as possible, both as a protection for her 
owner and also for the other members of the 
herd. She may lose flesh at first, the flow of milk 
may be decreased, and the test will be likely to 
drop, but these results are only temporary; she 
will recover from this shrinkage within a week 
or two and is likely to gain more than she lost. 
Cattle that are dehorned become more docile 
and are not in constant dread of being hooked 
by other members of the herd. They can be 
sheltered more conveniently; in fact there are so 
many advantages in dehorning that it should 
be generally practiced. 

Shelter essential. In a previous chapter atten- 
tion was called to the fact that a considerable 
portion of the food is used to provide heat and 
the maintenance for the body. It is therefore 
evident that if the body is not properly protected, 
more feed will be required to maintain a cow 
and, for this reason if for no other, she should 
be well sheltered. It must be remembered that a 
good dairy cow does not have so thick a skin as 



CARE OF THE COW I59 

the steer and not so much fat on her body to 
protect her from the cold. That it is profitable 
to protect her from the weather has been proven 
over and over again by experiment. The Indiana 
Experiment Station conducted a series of trials 
and found that cows required less feed when 
well housed, and that they gave more milk as 
a result of this care. In fact, sheltering three 
cows for forty-eight days gave an increased 
profit of $12.75, or $4.25 for each cow. This is 
a large item when a herd of twenty or thirty 
animals is considered. Just how cows should be 
sheltered depends a great deal on the location 
of the dairy farm. In another chapter the 
importance of a good barn is discussed, and also 
the necessity for providing sufficient fresh air 
and plenty of sunlight. 

Dairy cows need exercise. When sheltered 
during the winter season, it is very essential 
that cows be given sufficient exercise so that 
they are kept in a healthy condition. Some 
dairymen follow this rule: They allow their 
cows to go out of doors on days when it is com- 
fortable for a man to walk about the yard for a 
short time in his shirt sleeves. On a cold, rainy, 
drizzling day there would not be much comfort 
in walking about the yard without a coat and 
therefore it would not be advisable to turn cows 
out at such times. If the cow is not protected 



160 



PROFITABLE DAIRYING 



from rain, it has been shown that the shrinkage 
of milk may be as much as ten per cent, and 
in case of a storm to which the cow is exposed, 
the shrinkage has been known to reach forty 
per cent. This, as every dairyman knows, is an 
enormous loss and goes to show that it pays to 
protect cows from inclement weather. 




Fig. 43. Three types of bad rumps. 

Cleanliness of the liind quarters is absolutely necessary for the 

production of pure milk. 



Cows should be provided with shade in sum- 
mer. In summer time cows should be provided 
with a shady place where they can rest during 
the heat of the day. In fly time it may be 
profitable for the farmer to keep his cows in the 
barn during the day. He can do this by soiling 



CARE OP THE COW 161 

them. In case they are put in the barn, it is well 
to darken the windows to keep out the flies. 
All dairymen know that when flies appear there 
is a great loss of flesh and also a serious decrease 
in the flow of milk. For this reason it is well for 
the farmer to consider keeping his cows in the 
bam altogether during the fly season. It may 
cause extra work, but in the long run he will 
be amply repaid for the trouble. 

EXERCISES 

1. What do you understand by the term ' ' off feed ? ' ' 

2. How can cows be changed from one feed to an- 
other without showing any ill effects? 

3. Do you keep the cows or do the cows keep you? 

4. "What is the best way to ''break" in a cow to 
milk. 

5. Can a cow ''hold up" her milk? 

6. In Europe they take better care of their cows 
than they do in America. Why ? 



CHAPTER XVIII 
TUBERCULOSIS 

No treatise on the subject of dairying is com- 
plete unless some mention is made of tubercu- 
losis, that dreaded disease which has already 
carried off thousands of cattle, and whose rav- 
ages continue almost unabated. 

Tuberculosis the dangerous scourge. It is said 
that one out of every seven people who die fall 
victims of tuberculosis, or consumption, as it is 
commonly called. It is now pretty generally 
believed that tuberculosis in cattle and consump- 
tion in the human family are practically one and 
the same disease, and that this disease can be 
transmitted from one species to the other. Young 
children fed on the milk of tuberculous cows 
are likely to contract the disease, and calves 
and pigs consuming infected milk are almost 
certain to be affected. 

How tuberculosis spreads. Tuberculosis is a 
germ disease; that is, it is caused by the growth 
and multiplication of very minute organisms 
within the animal body. The disease cannot be 
contracted without the entrance of these germs. 

162 



TUBERCULOSIS 



163 



The introduction of a single infected animal 
into the herd is likely to inoculate the whole 
herd, as the tubercle germs are thrown off with 
the saliva and other excretions. These germs 
when dry will live in the dark for months and, 
settling upon the hay and other feed, are trans- 
mitted from animal to animal. Skim-milk from 







P^ 




y^^ 


r- ^ 




:«■/ j-^.l 


^» '^f n^ 




'W 

•^'k 


t» 


"'^^'^ tt, "'% 1 


r ' 


w 


1 "T. *a :■£ --^ 










pp 


il? 







Fig. 44. Tubercular nodules from the abdominal cavity of a cow. 

creameries and whey from cheese factories are 
other sources of infection. Here the milk from 
infected cows is mixed in a common tank with 
other milk and the whole supply thus becomes 
contaminated. In this way the disease is often 
spread throughout an entire neighborhood. 



254 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

How the germs are destroyed. Tubercle bacilli 
cannot live at a temijerature of 160 degrees F., 
and in direct sunlight they die in less than two 
hours. Pasteurizing whey and skim-milk, that 
is, heating it to 160 degrees F., will kill these 
germs and prevent the spread of disease from 
factory centers. Plenty of sunlight, fresh air, 
and the use of whitewash in stables are effective 
means of preventing the rapid spreading of the 
disease in herds. 

However, the disease cannot be communicated 
from one vicinity to another except through the 
introduction of diseased animals into the neigh- 
borhood, and some states have required that all 
animals imported within their borders should 
pass the tuberculin test.' Now what is this test? 

The tuberculin test. The United States De- 
partment of Agriculture and some of the state 
experiment stations are engaged in preparing 
and distributing tuberculin, a coffee-colored 
liquid, which if injected under the skin of 
infected animals will cause a rise in the ani- 
maPs temperature. No change is produced, how- 
ever, by injecting this substance under the skin 
of a healthy animal. During the test the animals 
must be kept in as nearly a normal condition 
as possible. Before injection four temperatures 
are taken with a clinical thermometer, two hours 
apart. These temperatures are taken by insert- 



TUBERCULOSIS 



165 



ing the thermometer in the rectum and allowing 
it to. remain there for three or four minutes 
before reading. About half a teaspoonful (2 c.c.) 
of the tuberculin is then injected underneath the 




Fig. 45. This picture shows how tuberculin is injected under 
the skin in making the tuberculin test. 



skin, usually at the shoulder, with an ordinary 
hypodermic syringe. Eight to ten hours after 
injection five more temperatures are taken in 
the same manner, two hours apart. A rise in 
temperature of two degrees is considered a ^'pos- 
itive reaction;^' that is, the animal is said to be 
diseased. 



166 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

Diseased animals should be removed from the 
rest of the herd and disposed of according to 
the law in force in the state. 

Factors influencing the accuracy of the test. 
Since there are so many conditions which may 
affect the temperature of an animal during the 
progress of the test, it should never be under- 
taken except by an experienced tester or under 
supervision of a competent veterinarian if re- 
liable results are to be expected. 

Some of the factors that may cause a change 
in temperature are as follows: 

1. Drinking a large amount of cold water 
will cause a fall in temperature. 

2. Turning out in cold, raw weather will cause 
fall in temperature. 

3. Confinement in a close, hot stable to which 
the animals are unaccustomed will cause a rise 
in temperature. 

4. Nervous animals are likely to show a rise 
in temperature, especially if annoyed. 

5. Annoyance by strangers or dogs may cause 
a rise in temperature. 

6. Any slight sickness will cause a change 
in temperature. 

How to prevent the spread of tuberculosis. The 

use of hand separators will prevent the intro- 
duction of the disease from factory skim-milk, 



TUBERCULOSIS 



167 



and if no animals are purchased but those that 
have been tested, the herd may be kept fre6 from 
the disease. One of the greatest authorities on 
this subject in this country says in a recent 
bulletin: 




Figr. 46. A tubercular spleen, showing nodules. 

**If dairy farmers will do three things they 
may keep their herds free from the scourge: 

''First. Find out the actual conditions of their 
herds by applying the tuberculin test. 

''Second. If found free, buy in the future 
only tested stock or test them before admitting 
same to herd. 

"Third. For young stock and hogs use skim- 
milk separated at home, or pasteurized properly 
at creamery or factory. 

"If disease is found, reacting animals should 
be separated and disposed of properly, and the 
barns adequately disinfected. In the case of 
valuable animals, healthy calves may generally 
be secured from reacting cows, if calves are sep- 
arated at birth and fed on boiled milk of mother 
or milk from non-reacting animals. Eemember 



168 



PROFITABLE DAIRYING 



the danger from tuberculosis lies in its hidden 
course of development, and for the sake of the 
herd itself, as well as for human beings con- 
suming the products of the herd, one cannot 
afford to neglect taking such steps as are neces- 




Fig. 47. — A chicken liver badly affected with tuberculosis. 



sary to find out positively the condition of his 
herd. If a stock owner is in the habit of buying 
and selling cattle, especially dairy stock, it is 
almost impossible to escape the disease. Even 
in some of the best beef breeds the disease has 
been widely prevalent. * * * If only tested 
dairy stock could be transferred from one owner 
to another, the rapid spread of the disease would 
be checked, and it would not require much time 
to eradicate the herds already involved." 



TUBERCULOSIS 169 

EXERCISES 

1. Why take several temperatures of an animal be- 
fore injecting tuberculin? 

2. "Why are several temperatures taken after the 
injection is made? 

3. What would be the effect of allowing a cow being 
tested for tuberculosis to have all the ice cold water she 
could drink? 

4. Why not buy cattle that have not been tested for 
tuberculosis ? 

5. Did you ever test the home herd for tuberculosis ? 

6. Is there any possibility that you may have tuber- 
culosis in your home herd ? 

LABORATORY PROBLEMS 
XXV. To Test Milk Which Has Become Curdled 

The difficulty in testing milk which has become 
curdled lies in the fact that it is very hard to sample 
such milk accurately. 

a. Make a test of a well-mixed quantity of sweet milk 
and record the results in a notebook. 

b. Set aside a small quantity of the same milk and 
allow it to curdle. Care must be exercised to prevent 
evaporation. 

c. After it has curdled, add 10 c.c. of ammonia per 
100 c.c. of sample to dissolve the curd. If this quantity 
of ammonia will not dissolve all the lumps, add a few 
more c.c. of ammonia. 

d. Test as in the case of sweet milk. Great care 
must be exercised while adding the sulphuric acid. For 
this reason it is best to add only a cubic centimeter or 
two at first and then gently shake the mixture. After 



170 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

the alkali has been neutralized there is no more danger 
than in adding acid to any milk sample. 

e. On account of diluting the milk with ammonia, 
the reading will be too low. It is necessary, therefore, 
to make proper correction. In order to do this it is 
very essential to note the quantity of milk in the sample 
and the number of cubic centimeters of ammonia added. 

Note: In order to obtain accurate results great care must 
be employed in the working out of this experiment. 



CHAPTER XIX 

RELATION OF DAIRYING TO THE SOIL 

Why dairying is better for the soil than grain 
farming. Progressive farmers have learned that 
exclusive grain farming does not pay in the long 
run, and they have gone into dairying and pros- 
pered. Now, why is dairy farming so much 
better? Because the grain and hay raised on 
the farm are fed there and find their way back 
to the soil in the form of barnyard manure. Very 
little soil matter is sold from the farm in dairy 
farming. Professor W. H. Dexter says: ^^The 
maintenance of soil fertility constitutes one of 
the greatest opportunities for dairying. A ton 
of wheat, worth $22, removes from the farm 
$7.50 worth of plant food. A ton of butter, 
worth $500, removes less than 50 cents worth of 
plant food from the farm.'' Since the price of 
fertilizers has advanced considerably since this 
statement was made, the figures now are much 
higher. A little calculation will show that the 
amount of fertilizer contained in the manure 
produced annually by a dairy cow is worth nearly 

171 



172 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

$20, if it is carefully saved and returned again 
to the land. 

How dairying enridies the soil. Again, the 
wise farmer raises much clover, alfalfa, cowpeas 
or soy beans for forage plants. These plants are 
legumes and have associated with them micro- 
scopic germs called bacteria, which live in little 
nodules on the roots of these plants. To con- 
vince yourself of this fact, pull up any one of 
the above-mentioned plants and examine its roots 
for these nodules. They are not always to be 
found, but usually can be. Now, what is the use 
of these germs? The soil contains but small 
quantities of nitrogen, a substance without which 
no plant can grow, no animal thrive, indeed, no 
life exist. This small quantity of nitrogen is 
combined in the soil with other elements in a 
form readily soluble in water, and in this dis- 
solved condition finds its way into the plant 
through the roots. It is then built into the body 
of the plant. Animals get all their nitrogen 
from the plants on w^hich they feed, and the 
plants get theirs from this small store of nitrogen 
in the soil. 

The work of bacteria in the legumes. The air 
is four-fifths nitrogen, but, strangely enough, 
neither plants nor animals can make use of this 
abundant supply of ^'free'' nitrogen, as it is 
called. But the little germs living in the nodules 



RELATION OF DAIRYING TO SOIL 173 

on the roots of the clover and other legumes, 
can and do make use of this ^^free" nitrogen of 
the air. They take it and combine it with other 
substances and store it up in these nodules in 
much the same manner as the honey-bee stores up 
his supply of honey for the time of need. The 
clover plant then robs the nodules of their stored- 
np nitrogen and incorporates it into its own 
tissues. From the clover it is passed on to the 
dairy cow, finds its way into the milk pail, serves 
as food for pigs and calves, and is ultimately 
returned again to the soil in the form of barn- 
yard manure. Thus it will be seen that the 
use of clover, alfalfa and other legumes actually 
adds to the store of nitrogen in the soil, and the 
dairy farmer, instead of exhausting the nitrogen 
in his soil finds it, under his intelligent manage- 
ment, continually improving. 

Other fertilizers necessary, however. It should 
be mentioned in this connection, however, that 
legumes do not add potash or phosphoric acid 
to the soil, but like every other plant, remove 
these substances. But since nitrogen is the sub- 
stance soonest exhausted from almost every soil, 
and since the legumes raised on the farm are 
usually fed there, these plants may be said to 
maintain the fertility of the soil. 

What system of dairying to follow. In deter- 
mining upon the kind of dairying to be pursued, 



174 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

the farmer must be governed by conditions. 
Whether to sell his milk or to make it into 
butter or cheese will depend upon his nearness 
to factories and markets, the relative price of 
milk, butter and cheese, and other local condi- 
tions. One fact must be constantly kept in mind. 
All kinds of dairying are not equally light on 
the soil. The farmer who sells his milk to con- 
sumers takes from his farm all the soil elements 
found in the whole milk. The sale of cheese 
returns a portion of these soil elements in the 
whey, while the sale of butter removes from the 
farm practically nothing of a soil nature. The 
milk required to produce a ton of butter con- 
tains 450 pounds of fertilizing substances, worth 
about $45. The cheese made from the same 
amount of milk removes about half as much 
of these substances, while the total amount of 
soil matter in a ton of butter has already been 
stated to be w^orth less than fifty cents. All 
else being equal, it is better to make butter 
than cheese for the market, as it makes so little 
demand on the soil. Again, the skim-milk is 
available to feed on the farm, while whey has 
a much less feeding value. 

The draft of dairying on the soil. In order to 
compare the effect of dairying on the soil with 
the other kinds of farming, let us suppose that 
forty acres of land will support ten cows. This 



176 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

is easily possible, and there are those who look 
forward to the time when there will be a cow to 
the acre on the best dairy farms. Should each 
cow produce 5,000 pounds of milk annually, we 
would have 50,000 pounds of milk. This amount 
will make on the average 5,000 pounds of cheese, 
or 2,000 pounds of butter. It has already been 
shown that this amount of milk, if sold from 
the farm to city consumers, removes about $45 
worth of fertility, while the 5,000 pounds of 
cheese contains about $25 worth, and the ton 
of butter less than 50 cents' w^orth. If clover 
or any of the other legumes has been raised for 
feed it has probably turned this value in air 
nitrogen back into the soil, so that very little if 
any of the fertility has been lost. 

The demands of other types of fanning on the 
soil. Now, what would be the result of raising 
grain, tobacco, potatoes or beets for the market 
on the same plat of ground? Let us see. The 
average production of oats, corn, wheat, rye, 
barley, and potatoes for the United States, 
according to the year book of the Department of 
Agriculture, is as follows: 



Oats 30 bu. per acre 

Wheat 14 bu. per acre 

Rye 15 bu. per acre 

Corn 25 bu. per acre 

Barley 25 bu. per acre 

Potatoes 90 bu. per acre 



RELATION OF DAIRYING TO SOIL 177 

These averages are low and much less than can 
ordinarily be raised per acre with intelligent 
farming. But accepting these averages for our 
forty-acre farm, we have the following: 

1,200 bushels of oats containing worth of soil fertility $150 

560 bushels of wheat containing worth of soil fertility. . . 145 

600 bushels of rye containing worth of soil fertility 130 

1,000 bushels of corn containing worth of soil fertility 165 

1^000 bushels of barley containing worth of soil fertility. . 153 
3,600 bushels of potatoes containing worth of soil fertility. 75 

If tobacco is grown instead of these, with 1,000 
pounds of this crop per acre, $300 worth of soil 
fertility is sold, and with ten tons of sugar 
beets per acre, a low estimate, $275 worth of 
soil fertility is removed annually. 

Prices used in these calculations. These calcu- 
lations are based on the average analysis of the 
above products, average yield for the United 
States, and the present price of commercial fer* 
tilizers, viz., nitrogen, 19 cents per pound, phos- 
phoric acid, 5 cents per pound, and potash, 
5 cents per pound.* It requires only a careful 
comparison of the above figures to convince the 
thoughtful farmer of the great advantage of 
dairy farming over other lines of agriculture. 
If it is impossible for the farmer to go into dairy 
farming exclusively, he can do the next best 

*At the time that this goes to press the price of potash 
has become almost prohibitive on account of the war in 
Europe. 



178 PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

thing; keep a few cows, raise legumes for feed, 
engage in diversified farming, practice rotation 
of crops, sell less off the farm and feed more 
on it. In this way he will preserve for himself 
more of his most valuable asset, the fertility of 
the land. 

EXERCISES 

1. What is meant by a three-year rotation? 

2. Outline a five-year rotation. 

3. Which removes the greatest amount of fertility 
value from the soil, oats or tobacco? 

4. How do you dispose of your milk at home ? 

5. What is done with the barnyard manure ? 

C. What is done with the crop grown on the land ? 
7. Can you suggest a better way to keep up the 
fertility on the home farm? 

LABORATORY PROBLEMS 

XXVI. To Determine Whether "Souring" Has Any Effect 
ON THE Fat Content of Milk ok Cream 

Mix well a quantity of milk and sample into from 
6 to 10 milk test bottles. Test two of the milk samples 
at once. Allow the other samples to ''sour" for a 
week or two. Test them in duplicate at intervals of two 
weeks. Before adding the acid break up the curd by 
shaking the bottle. If the sample is very dry, add a 
few cubic centimeters of water. Add sulphuric acid 
in small quantities of five to six centimeters at a time. 

Compare results obtained with those obtained when 
the fresh milk was tested. 



RELATION OF DAIRYING TO SOIL 179 

LABORATORY PROBLEMS 

XXVII. To Determi-ve the Specific Gravity of the Sulphuric 
Acid Used 

The specific gravity of sulphuric acid should be 1.82 
to 1.83. It can be determined as follows: 

a. Carefully weigh a perfectly dry, clean, 10 per 
cent milk bottle. 

b. Fill the bottle with clean water up to the zero 
mark and w^eigh carefully. 

c. Subtracting "a" from *'b" will give the weight 
of the water. 

d. After drying fill the same bottle with sulphuric 
acid to the zero mark and weigh. 

e. Subtracting ''a" from ''d" will give the weight 
of the sulphuric acid. 

f. Dividing the weight of the acid by the weight of 
the water will give the specific gravity of the sulphuric 
acid. 

Note: If distilled water is available, it should be used in 
these determinations. If such water is not available, then 
good, clean v^^ater can be employed. Sensitive scales and accu- 
rate weights are very essential to obtain accurate results. 



IgO PROFITABLE DAIRYING 

LABORATORY PROBLEMS 

XXIV. To Determine the Lactometer Readings and Fat 
Content of Milk That Has Been Watered and Skimmed 

1. Take samples that have been partially skimmed 
and add small quantities of water until the lactometer 
readings are approximately the same as those of the 
original sample. 

2. Determine the fat content of these three lots of 
milk after they have been watered. 

3. Judging from the results obtained, is it sufficient 
to take the lactometer reading only in order to deter- 
mine whether or not a certain milk has been either 
watered or skimmed? 

Note: The following may assist the student: 

a. Normal per cent of fat (3.00 to 5.00 per cent) and a 
normal reading (29.0 to 33.0) indicate normal milk. 

b. Below normal in fat and high in lactometer reading 
(above 33.0) indicate skimming. 

c. Below normal in fat and low lactometer reading (below 
29.0) indicate watering. 

d. Below normal In fat and normal lactometer reading 
(29.0 to 33.0) indicate both skimming and watering. 



INDEX 



Babcock, Dr., 11. 
Babcock Test, 11; 31-38. 
Bacteria, 172. 
Barn, The, 129-134. 
Brown Swiss Cows, 43, 57. 
Butter, Losses in, 63. 

Profit in, 61, 62. 

Ripened Cream, 119. 

Sweet Cream, 118. 
Butter Fat Test, 11. 

Carbohydrates, 144, 145, 146. 

Casein, 21. 

Cheese, Making, 123-124. 

Kinds of, 124. 
Churning, 120. 
Colantha 4th's Johanna, 61. 
Colostrum, 20, 21. 
Cows, Aberdeen Angus, 42. 

Ayrshire, 16, 17, 55. 

Beef type, 42. 

Care of, 155-161. 

Dairy type, 44. 

Devon, 45. 

Dual purpose type, 42, 57. 

Galloway, 42. 

Guernsey, 17, 53, 54. 

Herefords, 42. 

Holstein-Friesian, 17, 18, 51, 
52, 53. 

Jersey, 16, 17, 18, 50, 51. 

Pure breeds, 49. 

Red Polled, 43, 57. 

Shorthorn, 17, 42, 43. 

Sussex, 42. 

Treatment of, 21, 156. 
Cream, 31. 

Care of, 105-107. 

Disposing of, 111-113. 

Separation of, 72-76; 78-82. 

Standardizing, 113-116. 

Variation in, 113. 



Danish Experiments, 28. 

Dehorning, 157. 

Dexter, W. H., Professor, 171. 

Ether Extract, 144, 145. 

Fat, 17, 81. 

Fat Globules, 16, 31, 32. 

Losses of in Skim-milk, 73, 
74, 75. 

Variation of, 17, 19, 20. 
Feed, 141-153. 

Changing, 155. 

Protein in, 144, 

Rations, 141, 145, 147, 148. 

Value of Fat in, 144. 
Feeding after milking, 101. 

Galloway Cows, 42. 

Haecker Standard of Feeding, 

148, 149, 150. 
Hoard, Governor, 88. 
Holstein-Friesian Cows, 17, 

18, 51, 52, 53. 

Jersey Cows, 16, 17, 18, 50, 51. 

King System of Ventilation, 
131-133. 

Mammary Glands, 24. 
Milk, A Food Product, 102. 

An Economical Food, 13. 

Care of, 100-107. 

Cisterns, 25. 

Composition of, 15-21; 27, 
28 

Disposing of, 109, 110. 

Glands, 25. 

Secretion of, 24-27. 

Serum, 17. 



181 



182 



INDEX. 



Specific Gravity of, 15. 
Sugar in, 21. 
Milking, Time of, 19, 20. 
Dry, 106. 
Wet, 106. 

Pooling System, 10. 
Protein, 144, 145, 146. 

Separation, 

Centrifugal, 9, 72, 79, 80. 

Dilution, 72, 74. 

Gravity, 72, 73, 74. 
Separator, Care of, 81, 82, 95, 
96. 

Farm, 78-82, 104. 
Serum, 17. 

Silage, As a Feed, 138. 
Silo, 136-139. 

Five Types of, 138. 
Skim-milk, An Excellent 
Food, 86. 

For Feeding, 86-90. 

Losses in, 73-75. 

Value of, 86-90. 



Soil, Relation of Dairying to, 
171-178. 

Temperature in Separation, 

80. 
Tests, Butter Fat, 11. 

Babcock, 11. 

Farm Herd, 61-67. 
Tuberculosis, 162-168. 

Prevention of, 164-168. 

Spreading of, 162, 163. 

Test for, 164-166. 

Udder, 25, 26, 48, 102. 
Utensils, Care of, 94-97. 
Kind to use, 94. 

Van Slyke, Professor, 19. 
Ventilation, 129-134. 

King System of, 131-133. 
Vibration of Separator, 82. 

Wedge Form of Cows, 44, 47. 
Wolff-Lehmann Standardized 
Rations, 143. 



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